The Department of War has issued a request for information to solicit industry feedback on the use of automation and artificial intelligence to support and enhance Zero Trust Purple Team assessments across unclassified and secret networks.
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What Is the Scope of Zero Trust Assessments & Artificial Intelligence RFI?
According to the sources sought notice published Tuesday on SAM.gov, the DOW’s chief information officer is seeking vendors to provide details on commercial off-the-shelf, or COTS, platforms and services that use automation, AI and machine learning to accelerate and scale zero trust assessments within the War Department.
The initiative is designed to address anticipated capacity constraints by enabling continuous, collaborative evaluations—bringing together offensive and defensive cyber teams with system owners—to assess implementation of core zero trust principles, identify gaps or deficiencies, and validate compliance with target-level zero trust activities and acceptance criteria. The effort supports the department’s goal of aligning its IT environments with target-level zero trust standards.
What Is Zero Trust?
Zero trust is a cybersecurity framework based on the premise that networks and systems face persistent threats, DefenseScoop reports. Under this model, the Pentagon must continually verify users and devices as they access and move across the network. The DOW’s Zero Trust Strategy requires all of its components to meet designated zero-trust maturity targets by the end of fiscal year 2027.
