From Password1! to strong MFA” – a case study on implementing a Zero Trust-aligned authentication strategy at a US federal government agency

Session Details

With every federal agency mandated to move to a Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), authentication is crucial to achieve that goal.

Current realties remain sticky though. A recent report by the Inspector General of a US federal agency highlighted inconsistent MFA practices, usage of easy-to-crack passwords, password re-use among unrelated accounts, and no timely account disablement for terminated users.

Looking beyond those realties, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ZTA Maturity Model requires agencies move away from using passwords and instead use a combination of factors to validate and continuously verify identities.

Easy Dynamics presents a case study on how we helped a federal agency design such a ZT-aligned authentication strategy, and actually implement it. We showcase lessons learned on authenticator strategies, end-user communication, and how to harness the power of strong authentication for an agency’s overall ZTA journey.