Zero trust architecture (ZTA)

An increasingly hostile cyber threat environment made it crucial for the Department of Education to update its security approach to mitigate significant risks for sensitive student data and service delivery.

With TMF support, ED created a Strategic Level Tier III ZTA program management office dedicated to zero trust in accordance with Executive Order 14028 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-22-09. Results include:

• A comprehensive ZTA architecture implemented across multi-cloud environments, including SASE, SOAR, EDR, CASB, TIC 3.0, and SD-WAN across 15 branch offices and 2 data centers.
• Efficiency gains in the Security Operation Center by automating incident response workflows.
• A significantly improved security posture through faster incident response.
• A software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) deployment across 15 branch offices and 2 data centers.

Adopting and implementation of ZTA tremendously enhanced ED’s ability to provide secure and reliable mission services. ED’s work to mature its cybersecurity program led to the agency’s highest FISMA and FITARA scores.