In March of 2023 the federal government drafted and released a National Cybersecurity Strategy. The strategy outlines five pillars that are critical to implementation. In this blog series, we will dive into each pillar and how ZKX will abide by these guidelines and support this strategy.
The five pillars are:
- Defend critical infrastructure
- Disrupt and dismantle threat actors
- Shape market forces to drive security and resilience
- Invest in a resilient future
- Forge international partnerships to pursue shared goals
Invest in a resilient future
Investments in technology and culture need to be made today to ensure a resilient future. By combining federal and private sector resources, we can leverage investments in R&D, innovation, and education to enhance our digital presence and cyber infrastructure. However, innovation is not enough. Without making cybersecurity a top priority, our innovation and technological advancements are open for infiltration by our adversaries. Investing in a resilient future goes beyond being at the forefront of technological advancements. It means protecting those innovations against the next great fight.
According to Pillar Four, these are the steps we need to take to invest in a resilient future:
- Secure the technical foundation of the internet. The internet is full of vulnerabilities, and it is the responsibility of the network admins to take precautions to secure their networks. A widespread strategy must be implemented to protect assets on the internet.
- Reinvigorating federal research and development for cybersecurity. RD&D needs to be focused on the efforts to create the technology that mitigates cyberattacks. Departments will shift their focus and RD&D efforts to cybersecurity, AI, cloud infrastructure, etc.
- Prepare for our post-quantum future. With quantum computing on the rise, we must increase investment in hardware, software, and services with novel encryption schemes to protect the data and information within these systems.
- Secure our clean energy future. Electric vehicles are rising, increasing the need for a solid and secure electric grid. The grid is becoming a critical piece of infrastructure and thus will need a layer of cybersecurity protection.
- Support the development of a digital identity ecosystem. Identity theft is skyrocketing, specifically through data breaches. This is partly due to the lack of secure and privacy-preserving digital identity solutions.
- Develop a national strategy to strengthen our cyber workforce. Federal leadership and a strong connection between the private and public sectors are the first steps to recruit and train a growing cybersecurity workforce.
Investments made today will set up advancements in years to come
With the next great fight set to take place on the cyber domain, we need to be investing in cybersecurity now to be prepared. Some say the next fight is already here, as evidenced by countless security breaches. These can occur as identity theft, stolen bank credentials, or any stolen personal or critical data. ZKX Solutions has developed a Zero Trust authentication engine that authenticates both the user and device, exponentially increasing security without friction. To read more about how ZKX Solutions is revolutionizing cybersecurity to support this federal strategy, visit our website www.zkxsolutions.com