CISA Compliance: XQ Contribution

Zero Trust Data plays a significant role in helping organizations comply with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's (CISA) guidelines, particularly regarding the security of critical infrastructure and adhering to cybersecurity best practices.

Here’s how Zero Trust Data contributes to CISA compliance:

1. Data Encryption and Access Control:

CISA's guidelines emphasize strong encryption and access management practices. Zero Trust Data solutions, like XQ’s, ensure data is encrypted at rest and in transit. They implement granular access controls to limit who can view or modify data, reducing the risk of unauthorized access or data leakage.

2. Identity Verification for Data Access:

CISA stresses the need for continuous identity verification before granting access to systems and data. Zero Trust Data requires strict identity verification for all users, devices, and applications, ensuring that even if a user has network access, they are continuously validated before accessing sensitive data.

3. Micro-Segmentation:

Zero Trust Data facilitates micro-segmentation by encrypting data into small, manageable segments, each of which can have specific access controls. This aligns with CISA’s call for reducing the attack surface by limiting the potential damage from breaches.

4. Real-Time Monitoring and Threat Detection:

Continuous monitoring is a core component of Zero Trust and CISA’s guidelines. Zero Trust Data platforms can monitor data access and usage in real-time, allowing for early detection of suspicious activities and quick response to potential security incidents.

5. Data Integrity:

Ensuring the integrity of critical data is essential for compliance with CISA’s guidelines. Zero Trust Data solutions use encryption and strict access controls to prevent unauthorized tampering with data, ensuring that it remains accurate and reliable.

6. Resilience to Ransomware and Cyber Attacks:

CISA is focused on protecting organizations from ransomware and other sophisticated cyberattacks. Zero Trust Data significantly reduces the risk by encrypting all sensitive data and ensuring it can only be accessed by authorized parties, even if an attacker penetrates the network perimeter.

By aligning with Zero Trust principles, organizations can better meet CISA’s cybersecurity directives, safeguarding critical infrastructure and sensitive data while maintaining compliance with government regulations.

XQ CISA Zero Trust Data Category Compliance

XQ has the unique ability to improve an organization’s CISA data pillar scorecard to an advanced rating across the board.

This table highlights each CISA Zero Trust Data pillar function and provides a synopsis of how XQ fulfills each.

Function	Level	XQ
Data Availability (New Function)	Advanced	The existing problem with making data more available ( and lower access times) is that the more the data is copied to new locations the more it is vulnerable to cyber attack.
Data Access	Advanced	XQ automates unique key encryption and access policies based on various attributes, integrating with systems that manage these attributes effectively.
Data Encryption	Optimal	XQ delivers comprehensive contextual encryption solutions and advanced key management practices.
Visibility and Analytics Capability	Advanced	XQ automates unique key encryption and access policies based on various attributes, integrating with systems that manage these attributes effectively.XQ enhances Visibility and Analytics through the logging of data tracking, categorization and labeling, access event monitoring, and integration with analytics platforms.
Automation and Orchestration Capability	Advanced	XQ automates unique key encryption and access policies based on various attributes, integrating with systems that manage these attributes effectively.XQ enables Automation and Orchestration by automating key aspects of Data discovery, data encryption, key management, and access control policies.
Governance Capability	Advanced	XQ automates unique key encryption and access policies based on various attributes, integrating with systems that manage these attributes effectivelyQ automates data discovery, access and audit reporting across environments to provide a unified data protection platform.

CISA Zero Trust Data Pillars

The following tables provide an in-depth breakdown of each of the CISA Zero Trust Data pillars and demonstrate how XQ helps organizations achieve at least an ‘Advanced’ rating in each category."

CISA : Data Availability

Function	Level	XQ
Data Availability (New Function)	Advanced	The existing problem with making data more available ( and lower access times) is that the more the data is copied to new locations the more it is vulnerable to cyber attack. Securing Data Across Redundant Systems: XQ reduces the risk by allowing agencies to make multiple copies of data to increase availability without increasing risk. XQ ensures that data stored in redundant and highly available systems is both secure and accessible, including historical data, while having a single control point for data copies. Access to Historical Data: Although XQ does not manage the storage of historical data directly, it ensures that encrypted historical records can be securely accessed and decrypted by authorized users. Seamless and Controlled Data Access: XQ’s Zero Trust Data model and policy-based key management facilitate controlled and secure access to data within redundant environments, maintaining data availability without compromising security.

CISA : Data Access

Function	Level	XQ
Data Access	Advanced	XQ automates unique key encryption and access policies based on various attributes, integrating with systems that manage these attributes effectively. Policy-Based Access Control: XQ supports policy-based encryption and integrates with identity management systems to enforce access controls based on identity attributes and data categories. Dynamic Policies: XQ allows for the creation of dynamic encryption policies that adjust according to contextual factors such as user roles or data sensitivity. This supports automated access controls that consider various attributes, improving security and compliance. Time-Limited Access: XQ provides time-limited access by allowing encryption keys and access to expire after a set period. This ensures that access to data is restricted to specific timeframes, enhancing security and control.

CISA : Data Encryption

Function	Level	XQ
Data Encryption	Optimal	XQ delivers comprehensive contextual encryption solutions and advanced key management practices. Encryption of Data: XQ ensures that data is encrypted both at rest and in transit using agile encryption algorithms and a unique key for each data object. Cryptographic Agility: XQ incorporates cryptographic agility by enabling organizations to update and manage encryption algorithms and protocols as new standards emerge. Categorization and Labeling: XQ analyzes data as it is encrypted and applies policies to categorize and label date sensitivity. Key Management: XQ’s secure key management capabilities include automated key rotation, protection against hard-coded secrets and remote control of encrypted data across environments. XQ features role and attribute-based policy enforcement on a per data object basis and strict access controls for encryption keys, ensuring that key management is both secure and flexible.

CISA : Visibility & Analytics Capability

Function	Level	XQ
Visibility and Analytics Capability	Optimal	XQ enhances Visibility and Analytics through the logging of data tracking, categorization and labeling, access event monitoring, and integration with analytics platforms. Data Encryption Monitoring: XQ offers real-time visibility into data access attempts including encryption and decryption events across the enterprise. This capability allows organizations to track who is accessing or modifying encrypted data and correlate these activities with security events, providing a comprehensive view of data interactions. Automated Key and Access Management Logs: XQ logs all key management activities, including key rotation, key access, and encryption policy enforcement. These logs can be integrated with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems for further analysis, enhancing overall security posture and incident response. Integration for Correlation: XQ can integrate with other enterprise analytics tools to enable the correlation of encryption events with broader data access patterns.

CISA : Automation and Orchestration Capability

Function	Level	XQ
Automation and Orchestration Capability	Optimal	XQ enables Automation and Orchestration by automating key aspects of Data discovery, data encryption, key management, and access control policies. Policy-Based Encryption Automation: XQ automates the application of encryption policies across the enterprise, ensuring that data is encrypted both at rest and in transit according to predefined rules. These policies can be tailored based on factors such as data sensitivity, user roles, or other attributes, enabling a targeted and tiered approach. Automated Key and Access Management Logs: XQ provides automated key rotation and policy-driven key access, ensuring regular updates to encryption keys and dynamic management of key access. This reduces the need for manual intervention and enhances the security of the data lifecycle. Integration with Orchestration Platforms:XQ integrates with orchestration tools to help automate the enforcement of security policies, such as data encryption and access control, across various data types and environments. This integration supports consistent and efficient policy enforcement.

CISA : Governance

Function	Level	XQ
Governance	Optimal	While XQ does not provide a comprehensive data lifecycle governance solution, it plays a significant role in strengthening governance policies related to data protection. Encryption Policy Enforcement: XQ enforces encryption policies throughout different stages of the data lifecycle, ensuring sensitive data remains encrypted according to predefined rules. This consistent enforcement supports robust data governance by maintaining uniform protection standards. Unified Security Definitions: XQ’s policy-based encryption and key management enable organizations to establish and enforce consistent security policies across various systems and data types. This unified approach integrates seamlessly into the broader governance framework, enhancing overall data protection. Data Tagging and Classification: XQ supports metadata tagging and data classification based on sensitivity, which aids in the consistent application of data governance policies across the organization. This capability ensures that data protection measures are aligned with governance requirements.

Addressing the data pillar provides a unified approach to data security for government organizations that need to improve their zero-trust compliance scorecard. XQ is the best way to fill CISA zero trust compliance gaps.