Axonius Federal Systems LLC, a provider in cybersecurity asset management and SaaS management for federal agencies, has announced the completion of two projects for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD): a prototype with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) followed by a production pilot with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Emerging Technology (EM) Directorate for cyber asset inventory management (CAIM).
The Axonius solution met the criteria for success identified in the DIU/DISA agreements, most notably for being able to increase the speed and accuracy of cyber asset inventory management on DoD networks.
An increasing amount of sensitive information is generated by an array of devices connecting to the DoD’s network, including Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices and cloud-connected solutions. As a result, cyber asset inventories are harder than ever to manage and trust, leading to a falling level of visibility.
In fact, according to a 2021 study, conducted by the Enterprise Strategy Group on behalf of Axonius, 74% of Department of Defense (DoD) agencies reported visibility gaps in their end user devices. As part of a greater effort in accelerating and automating system patching across the DoDIN, DUI posted a solicitation in January 2020 seeking solutions to solve its asset management challenge. In a competitive procurement that included proposals from over 20 vendors, the Axonius solution was selected to provide a complete, always up-to-date asset inventory that also helps uncover security gaps and automatically enforce security policies.
“Recent guidance around zero trust and asset management has brought to light the importance of having a comprehensive cyber asset inventory,” says Tom Kennedy, vice president of Axonius Federal Systems. “Zero trust architecture relies on total visibility, something that is becoming harder to achieve thanks to accelerated technology adoption. Across 45 specific test cases, Axonius proved time and again that it was well equipped to meet the Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management needs of the DoD. In addition, the Axonius platform will enable improved Command Cyber Readiness Inspection (CCRI) preparedness and provide CCRI-like dashboarding that updates daily.”
In addition to being able to create an asset inventory, the initial AoI from DIU and DISA EM requested a software solution capable of integrating into the existing network to reduce timelines for profiling assets on the network and prioritising vulnerabilities to patch. Axonius Cybersecurity Asset Management is the solution on the market that correlates asset data from existing solutions to continually surface coverage gaps, control validation, and support incident response investigations with pre-built and custom queries.
“We started the CAIM program in partnership with DIU because we wanted to get an inventory of all devices and systems,” says Steve Wallace, chief technology officer of DISA and the director of the emerging technology directorate. “An integrated view into the details of each and every system on the DoD Information Networks (DoDIN) is a crucial starting point to accelerate the process of learning about a new vulnerability, determining which systems in the inventory are affected, applying the patch, and verifying systems are no longer vulnerable. We are really excited to start to deploy that.”
As a result of the completion of the prototype and production pilot, Axonius has worked with the DoD to develop many items that will make adoption of this critical technology easier and effective. Those items, which were milestones of the agreements, include:
- Implementing standard operating procedures (SOPs), tactics, technique, and procedures (TTPs)
- Practices for using Axonius Cybersecurity Asset Management across DoD networks
- Creation of an ATO package for the Axonius solution
- The establishment of a volume-based, tiered discount structure that is available to any DoD entity
The Axonius platform is available on several government-wide acquisition contracts, including NASA SEWP V contracts and the GSA IT schedule 70 contract.
To learn more about the solution or request a demo, visit Axonius.
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