A Department of Defense Information Network (DoDIN) official explained Nov.2 that some of the organization’s priorities in defending cloud-based services used by the Defense Department, and a range of the technologies involved in that effort.
Robert Landreth, Technical Director, J3 Operations Joint Force Headquarters, at DoDIN, said during a presentation at the AFCEA International TechNet Cyber 2020 virtual event that DoD’s moves to cloud services have shifted the emphasis of cyber defense away from “network defenders,” and more toward the concept of “data defenders.”
In particular, he said the defense effort aims to focus on user account and data manipulation, and said his organization is “working to understand that through key analytics and tools built for the cloud environment” in order to identify threats before any data breaches are allowed to take place.
Landreth said his organization employs machine learning and AI technologies in its work, which is based in part on a model provided by MITRE.
The security effort aims toward zero trust concepts, Landreth said. Cloud service providers, he explained, “have done an excellent job building out tools to let us use zero trust principles.”
“We are focused on operationalization” to make sure that zero trust principles are being followed in each of the cloud environments, he said. DoDIN, he said, “will continue to grow strong relationships with cloud service providers to make sure we are aligned … to create the most secure environment possible.”
