The Pentagon is closely monitoring the progress of the military services as they work towards implementing the department’s zero trust strategy, aiming to achieve a baseline level of zero trust by fiscal 2027. However, coordinating the individual efforts of each service into a unified approach has proven challenging, according to Randy Resnick, the director of the Defense Department’s zero trust portfolio management office. 

Key Points: 

1. The Pentagon released its zero-trust strategy in November, mandating each military service to devise a plan to reach a basic level of zero trust by fiscal year 2027. These plans are due to be submitted by October.
2. The Department of Defense (DoD) is holding weekly “huddles” and larger monthly meetings with the services to guide them on executing the department’s zero trust vision.
3. The Pentagon is trying to simplify the 91 activities outlined in the strategy to reach the target baseline level of zero trust while still maintaining the capability to halt adversaries.
4. The department has recognized its end goal for zero trust needs to be an integrated product rather than a set of individual tools.
5. Resnick highlighted the challenge of maintaining the strategy in the “last mile,” referring to denied, degraded, or disconnected environments, with each service having different interpretations of what this entails.

Source: https://breakingdefense.com/2023/06/dod-zero-trust-cyber-services/