Is multi-cloud the key to defense modernization?
Leaders from the Department of Defense (DOD), the intelligence community (IC), and industry discussed strategies for leveraging cloud technologies, improving cybersecurity, and enhancing mission effectiveness at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit. Leidos expert Lakshmi Ashok, vice president and chief technology officer for DISA IT and Navy & Marine Corps IT at Leidos, emphasized the value of transitioning from single-cloud to multi-cloud environments.
"It's all about providing a good set of tools that offer security, visibility, and management for those using multi-cloud systems," she said.
Ashok noted that the shift to multi-cloud reflects the reality that various agencies and organizations are now utilizing multiple platforms to meet their diverse operational needs.
While cloud security is paramount, we need to design secure multi-cloud solutions with the user in mind to enhance customer experience and foster better adoption of cloud.
Lakshmi Ashok
CTO, DISA IT and Navy & Marine Corps IT, Leidos
This user-centric approach, she explained, helps ensure smoother transitions to multi-cloud systems and drives better engagement from organizations.
Cybersecurity at the forefront
A recurring theme in the discussion was the need for strong cybersecurity measures in multi-cloud strategies. Ashok described how Leidos helps the DOD and IC by developing "golden images" that encode key security standards.
"We ensure that users can download secure images with the necessary guardrails built in," she explained, highlighting the importance of integrating security into cloud systems from the outset.
Ashok also pointed to the need for continuous monitoring and advanced protocols, such as attribute-based access controls, which track user behavior in real time.
"With cloud being so ubiquitous, we need to monitor who is logging in from where and what they are accessing," she added.
AI’s role in cloud management
AI plays an increasingly critical role in managing multi-cloud environments. Ashok highlighted AI’s capability to interpret vast amounts of data and detect potential threats before they materialize.
"We use AI to look at data from various sensors and make sense of it quickly. In some cases, AI even remediates issues automatically," she said. “And we implement AI to the level that the customer is comfortable with it, all the way from assisted to autonomous operations.”
AI also enhances offensive security by simulating attacks to identify vulnerabilities. "We constantly test our defense systems using AI, fine-tuning them to ensure they're resilient," Ashok noted.
As the DOD and IC communities continue to adopt multi-cloud technologies, leaders like Ashok are ensuring that robust cybersecurity and AI solutions are central to the transformation, while also making sure that the user experience remains a key focus.
