5 Steps to Zero Trust

In this follow-up episode of Tech Transforms, Carolyn Ford continues her conversation with Michael Blake of Owl Cyber Defense, shifting from the theory of Zero Trust to the realities of implementing it. The discussion explores the first practical step, network discovery and why organizations are often surprised by shadow IT and legacy systems still operating inside their environments.

From there, Ford and Blake walk through the key stages of a Zero Trust journey, including microsegmentation, access management, and auditing privileges to prevent lateral movement and privilege creep. They also discuss the operational realities leaders face—budgeting, prioritizing critical assets or “crown jewels,” and ensuring organizations have the talent and resources needed to sustain a Zero Trust architecture.

The takeaway: Zero Trust isn’t a single deployment, it’s an ongoing journey that evolves alongside emerging threats and technologies.

Show Notes:
Michael Blake: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-blake-734b0a21/ | Email: [email protected]
DoW resources https://dowcio.war.gov/Library/: security controls, checklist, self assessment, Penn test guidelines etc
Zero Trust | www.dau.edu
Dell Technologies Project Fort Zero to Transform Security | Dell USA
MITRE papers on evolving threats of giving AI access to network - https://ctid.mitre.org/blog/2025/05/09/secure-ai-v2/
Owl ZT resources: https://owlcyberdefense.com/zero-trust-cds/

Vendors that assist with ZTX, listen to the BLUF Podcast summaries to know if they might be able to help you: https://theblufpodcast.podbean.com/e/thebluf_episode12/ https://theblufpodcast.podbean.com/e/thebluf_episode13/