Cybersecurity capabilities across DoD platforms to be provided by Forescout Technologies
NewsSeptember 01, 2020
SAN JOSE, Calif. Security firm Forescout Technologies has won a multimillion-dollar award from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to expand cybersecurity across the DoD global enterprise; in this initial phase of the contract, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) chose Forescout’s technology as the foundation of the DoD’s “Comply to Connect” (C2C) initiative.
The C2C initiative is a security framework that enables the highest level of assurance for authentication, authorization, compliance assessment, and automated remediation of devices that connect to the DoD information network (DoDIN), with all branches of the U.S. armed forces included, as well as other DoD agencies and centers.
The DoD, according to information from the company, determined that Forescout’s platform was the most effective at agentless, real-time discovery and classification of every IP-connected device in its office, facility, and tactical environments. Forescout hasbeen involved in the C2C program from its pilot and early-adopter phases at DoD enterprises including DISA, the Marine Corps, the Navy’s Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN), and Army Medical Command (MEDCOM).
A major difference, say company officials, between C2C and previous security programs is that C2C is applicable to nontraditional operational technology, commercial smart devices, and embedded-control systems that DoD and other agencies increasingly rely on to fulfill their missions, but which cannot host aftermarket security software. This wider array of mission-critical systems to be protected by Forescout cybersecurity includes Internet of Things (IoT) devices and technology platforms including industrial control systems, weapons systems, autonomous vehicles, and medical gear.
