Air Force Hardens Base Infrastructure with Zero Trust for OT Security

The U.S. Air Force is developing a specialized zero trust cybersecurity framework for operational technology systems that power base infrastructure, recognizing that industrial control systems require different security approaches than traditional IT networks. Speaking at the Alamo ACE conference, the Department of the Air Force Chief Information Security Officer emphasized that zero trust principles cannot be applied identically to programmable logic controllers and other OT environments. With compliance targets extending to the end of the decade, the Pentagon is creating an OT roadmap to address vulnerabilities in systems controlling everything from runway lights to power supplies.