As Federal agencies ramp up their zero trust capabilities, a new report released today by security automation provider Swimlane finds that “67 percent of federal government agencies are confident or very confident they are prepared to meet the Zero Trust requirements laid out by the U.S. government.”
The report – Security Automation: A Strategic Imperative for Federal Agencies – is based on responses from 106 security professionals and executives at U.S. Federal agencies who were surveyed about their thoughts on their zero-trust preparedness.
“With the 2024 deadline approaching for federal agencies to meet the Zero Trust executive order from the Biden Administration, we sought to understand how prepared Federal agencies are to meet the requirements,” the report says.
Other findings include: 64 percent of those surveyed reported that federal agencies are choosing “low-code security automation solutions,” to solve their sophisticated zero trust security challenges.
“Without security automation, there is simply no feasible way for Federal agencies to handle the volume of security alerts and complex processes,” the report says.
Other findings include workforce challenges. “Amid these ongoing challenges, 83% of Federal agencies report having security team positions currently open, with 64% reporting it takes longer to fill a security position now than it did two years ago,” states the report. “This has led one-third (35%) of federal agencies to believe they will never have a fully- staffed security team with the proper skills.”
The report concludes by noting, “while the absence of coding altogether might seem attractive on the surface, Federal agencies are finding that no-code tools don’t support cloud or hybrid environments and tend to lack important reporting and case management features.”
“More importantly, federal agencies cited that no-code security automation tools are only short-term solutions to long-term issues,” the report says.
