Zero Trust
September 17, 2024

How to Achieve Zero Trust Adoption in U.S. Government

Government
Security & Compliance

By

Zero Trust adoption is critical, especially for U.S. government agencies. With changing policies and requirements, it can be tough to stay ahead of everything you need to know. We’ll provide a high-level overview of Zero Trust adoption + share how automation can help you achieve compliance. 

Table of Contents 

What Is Zero Trust? 

Zero Trust is a cybersecurity model requiring users to be authorized at every level of network access, rather than only to gain entry through a trusted perimeter. Zero Trust is based on the principal of “never trust, always verify” and is mandated for US federal civilian government agencies by President Biden’s Executive Order 14028. 

Why Adopt Zero Trust? 

Adopting Zero Trust is an important security measure to verify all user access and defend against increasingly sophisticated threats.

Attackers often exploit trusted insiders or leverage compromised credentials to move laterally within an organization’s network. The frequency of remote work means employees are connecting to company resources from additional locations and devices, all of which need to be addressed using secure access policies. 

There are many benefits from adopting a Zero Trust architecture, including: 

  • Improved Security – by assuming all users and systems are threats. 
  • Reduced Risk – by limiting access to sensitive data and systems. 
  • Increased Flexibility – by granting access based on specific roles. 
  • Compliance – a robust security framework helps with regulatory mandates. 
  • Cost Savings – from implementing a more efficient approach to security. 
  • Improved Incident Response – providing more rapid response to incidents. 
  • Enhanced Visibility – of user and system activity, making detection easier. 
  • Improved Threat Intelligence – through a comprehensive understanding of user and system access. 
  • Increased Confidence – in security which builds trust with customers and partners. 

Government Mandates for Zero Trust Adoption 

Government agencies have been working diligently to comply with the 2021 Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity. The Executive Order (EO) addresses cybersecurity issues by imposing a new series of federal-wide Zero Trust mandates. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a Zero Trust (ZT) strategy document in response to the Cybersecurity EO that requires Federal agencies to achieve certain specific Zero Trust goals by the end of Fiscal Year 2024. This complements the Zero Trust Maturity Model developed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA). Driving these compliance requirements further are DISA and NIST standards that agencies are also expected to follow. 

While technology in government agencies must ensure compliance with the Federal Zero Trust mandates, they must still keep their mission goals on track. 

How the OMB Mandate Aligns with CISA 

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Mandate and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are both key players in the U.S. government's cybersecurity efforts. They work together to strengthen the federal government's defenses against cyber threats. Here’s an example of overlap considering the recent Zero Trust requirements: 

  • Federal Zero Trust Strategy: The OMB issued a memorandum outlining a Federal Zero Trust Strategy, which aligns with CISA's efforts to promote Zero Trust principles in federal agencies. 
  • Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): The OMB has issued guidance on EDR requirements for federal agencies, which aligns with CISA's recommendations for improving cybersecurity through the use of EDR technologies. 

The OMB Mandate and CISA work together to ensure that federal agencies have the necessary cybersecurity measures in place to protect against cyber threats. The alignment between these two organizations helps to create a more cohesive and effective cybersecurity posture for the federal government. 

Zero Trust Model Requirements in Government 

The Executive Order includes actions that government agencies must take to achieve a Zero Trust model. 

Agencies are required to: 

  • Collect, preserve, and share information as it relates to a potential or actual incident 
  • Adopt a system that only provides the bare minimum access that employees need to perform their jobs 
  • Identify existing or develop new security standards, tools, and best practices
  • Improve detection of cybersecurity vulnerabilities and incidents 

Puppet has designed enterprise-grade infrastructure and remediation solutions that can help government agencies address these and other cybersecurity requirements, such as FIPS 140-2. 

Collect, Preserve, and Share Information 

IT and business managers can easily tap into and automate rich compliance audit reports with Puppet Enterprise. Powerful Puppet report processors can collect and handle a wide variety of data points across the agency environment: 

  • Metadata about the system and its operating environment 
  • The status of every resource the system is connected to 
  • Actions, also called events, taken during the run 
  • Log messages generated during the run 
  • Metrics about the run, such as its duration and how many resources were in a given state 

Finally, agencies are now required to comply with standard practices on how much incident data must be recorded to network logs and how it can be retained and accessed. Puppet’s integration with Splunk makes this easy by giving agencies deeper insights with data intake and analysis. 

The data in Puppet reports can be accessed in a variety of ways: 

  • Natively, on the Puppet Enterprise Reports Page 
  • In PuppetDB, through third-party tools like Puppetboard via the PuppetDB API
  • In your agency’s tools or within external processors, through the Puppet Enterprise API

Together, the Puppet and Splunk integration can efficiently analyze and visualize data to make intelligent operational and security decisions. 

Limiting System Access and Using Security Tools 

Puppet Enterprise uses role-based access control (RBAC) to grant individual users the permission to perform specific actions, such as: 

  • The permission to grant password reset tokens to other users who have forgotten their passwords 
  • The permission to edit a local user’s metadata
  • The permission to deploy Puppet code to specific environments 
  • The permission to edit class parameters in a node group 

Agencies can perform user control tasks in the console or use the Puppet Enterprise RBAC API, which allows agencies to effectively manage user access, roles, tokens, passwords, and LDAP connections. 

The Puppet Enterprise RBAC API helps agencies to be more productive, agile, and collaborative while they manage their overall IT infrastructure. With Tasks in Puppet Enterprise, agencies can execute ad hoc actions on a target device to troubleshoot or deploy changes to systems in their infrastructure. Puppet Enterprise allows agencies to combine tasks, scripts, commands, and other plans into complex workflows in order to run complex operations. 

Improve Detection Vulnerabilities and Standardize Practices 

Puppet Enterprise can be employed to discover, filter, prioritize, and remediate vulnerabilities at scale. 

As a part of the EO, government agencies need to follow secure cloud adoption practices and guidelines. Puppet Enterprise makes it easier, integrating cloud platforms, operating systems, and networks to address Zero Trust needs across the entire agency environment. Puppet Enterprise is also based on open source technology that can be scaled across hybrid environments for complete infrastructure coverage. 

Since the order’s mandates are driven by DISA and NIST standards, government agencies must also stay up to date on these requirements. Puppet automates system configuration to comply with DISA STIGs and NIST 800-53 every 30 minutes. 

How to Automate Zero Trust Adoption 

How can agencies find and use the right resources to achieve a Zero Trust model without negatively impacting their workforce and budgets? 

Driving towards a Zero Trust security model can deplete government resources normally used to help keep mission-centric work on track. While improving Zero Trust compliance, the automation solutions from Puppet Enterprise can also help agencies conserve resources and preserve schedules—ensuring projects, programs, and missions stay the course. 

The automation functionality of Puppet Enterprise can help with compliance and: 

  • Reduce manpower costs associated with compliance audits 
  • Reduce transformation program costs by automating deployment and management 
  • Ensure configuration changes don’t wreak havoc on mission-critical systems 
  • Provide proactive tools to prioritize, remediate, manage, and discover infrastructure security vulnerabilities 

With the Zero Trust model, government agency teams can spend more of their strategic energy on the mission and less on making sure that their network and systems remain compliant. 

How Puppet Helps You Manage Zero Trust Adoption 

Puppet Enterprise and Puppet Enterprise Advanced can help government agencies address security and compliance requirements effectively, which enables agencies to achieve Zero Trust postures while keeping their missions on track. 

It all starts when Puppet automates the configuration and management of infrastructure components. Its declarative language allows for the creation of desired system states, ensuring consistent policy across the entire environment. 

Puppet can also help automate the continuous monitoring and remediation of vulnerabilities, reducing the risk of unauthorized access. By automating routine tasks, Puppet frees up security teams to focus on higher-level strategies and proactive threat detection. 

Puppet has been accelerating the journey for federal agencies in hybrid environments. Now, it’s a critical step in complying with the Cybersecurity Executive Order. 

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A profile headshot of Robin Tatam, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Puppet by Perforce

Robin Tatam

Senior Technical Marketer and Evangelist, Puppet by Perforce

Robin Tatam (CISM CPFA CTSP CTMA PCI-P) is a Senior Technical Marketer and Evangelist at Puppet by Perforce, where he promotes the benefits of managing compliance using Puppet. Prior to his role with Puppet, Robin worked as a Security Evangelist, and was a globally recognized SME and five-time IBM Champion. Robin also loves travel and cultural exploration, is an accomplished photographer, and considers himself an amateur mixologist.