- Axonius Federal’s Brian Meyer has said full IT asset visibility could strengthen agency zero trust efforts
- Meyer highlights a platform that supports SIEM and CMDB tools
- Axonius offers more than 1,500 integrations for zero trust tools
Brian “Stretch” Meyer, field chief technology officer at Axonius Federal Systems, said government agencies should have a clear view of their mission-critical IT assets to understand their attack surface and implement zero trust.
In an article published on Carahsoft.com, Meyer wrote that a security team may find thousands of systems missing from endpoint security tools for a variety of reasons, such as an agent that was never installed or one that has since malfunctioned. He noted that agencies need a detailed, actionable inventory to investigate why those devices are unaccounted for and address the issue efficiently.
How Does Axonius Provide Network Visibility to Agencies?
Axonius, a network visibility platform, could function as an automation tool to instruct another system to install a missing security agent, Meyer explained. He said the platform augments tools such as security information and event management solutions and configuration management databases, or CMDBs, rather than replacing them.
Meyer added that Axonius shows a chief information officer or chief information security officer every device on a network that other solutions failed to detect. According to Meyer, Axonius can then automate the transfer of that data to a system such as a CMDB, allowing it to function more effectively. He noted that Axonius maintains more than 1,500 integrations that include all core zero trust tools, which agencies could use to build a comprehensive asset inventory and track the progress of their zero trust rollouts across every device on the network.
How Can Agencies Advance Toward Higher Levels of Cybersecurity Maturity?
Meyer described cybersecurity maturity as a pyramid, with foundational tools such as endpoint security and vulnerability scanning at the base and more advanced capabilities, including zero trust, positioned closer to the top. He said Axonius serves as that foundation, giving agencies the initial visibility they need before advancing into more complex tools.
Meyer noted that the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, or FITARA, holds agency CIOs accountable for maintaining visibility into the IT assets supporting their systems and operations.
“Agencies that score poorly on FITARA oversight metrics often lack the tools needed to comprehensively discover, inventory and govern those assets,” he wrote.
According to Meyer, Axonius gives CIOs a fast path to build a reliable asset baseline, which agencies could then expand into broader governance and modernization efforts that support FITARA-aligned initiatives.
