The old saying goes, there are only two kinds of organizations: those that have been breached and those that will be soon. Clearly, the “moat-and-castle” approach to security has not worked. Simply being “inside” a network – behind a firewall, DMZ and other traditional defenses – does not confer trustworthiness, whether it’s a device, a user, network traffic, or an application.

DHS recently published version 3.0 of the Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) architecture. A response to changing IT conditions, Executive Orders, and OMB mandates, the new architecture seeks to support IT modernization through cloud adoption while keeping security as a top priority. The comprehensive set of documents includes an overview, a catalog of security capabilities, a reference architecture, guidance for pilot programs, advice for service providers, and a very helpful set of use cases relevant to agency needs.

Hot off the heels of last week’s Amazon Web Services re:Invent conference, we sat down with DLT’s Chief Technology Officer, David Blankenhorn, to discuss the current state of the Cloud and what drivers will fuel more innovation and adoption for the U.S. public sector in 2020.

There have been a few big agenda items for the cloud community to digest this year – what is the current state of U.S. public sector cloud adoption and usage?

“Trust but verify”:  a Russian proverb Ronald Reagan often used to characterize U.S.-Russia relations, especially regarding nuclear weapons. The Internet has made it clear that the “trust” part of the proverb may not work so well. Today, we may have to say “Never trust; only verify”.