The perimeter is gone. Security has to follow the data.
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ByRiccardo Di Blasio,
Senior Vice President, North America Sales at NetApp
July 29, 2026 03:48 PM ET
COMMENTARY | Many zero trust plans are still anchored to the old idea of the border. That protects a version of government IT that no longer exists.
For years, federal security rested on one idea: the perimeter. Agencies drew a line around their networks and watched that line closely. They trusted what was inside while treating everything outside as a threat. That worked when systems stayed in government buildings and people worked from a desk down the hall, but it doesn’t match how agencies work today.
Washington has already admitted this, at least on paper. The Federal Zero Trust Strategymoved agencies away from that old model years ago. It replaced trust at the border with constant checks on every user, device and app. The...
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