Christopher Barnhurst, deputy director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, said DISA should be prepared to deliver information to warfighters worldwide in the event of a conflict and amid cyberattacks by implementing a resilient, secure network infrastructure backed by zero trust.
“As we think about moving to zero trust, what we think about is an integrated set of capabilities that protect data and not necessarily focus on protecting the network. It’s worth emphasizing that we’re not trying to leave the front door open either,” Barnhurst said during his keynote address at a Sept. 28 conference in Virginia.
“There still are boundary protections that need to be in place,” he added.
Other senior DISA leaders joined Barnhurst at the event, where they discussed the zero trust-based Thunderdome project.
Brian Hermann, director of the agency’s cybersecurity and analysis directorate, cited the need for DISA to better manage its data and simplify the user experience.
