Author: Roman Arutyunov, Co-Founder and SVP Products, Xage Security

Zero Trust for Operational Technology (OT) has entered a new phase, one focused on practical implementation.

With the Department of War’s (DoW) release of Zero Trust for Operational Technology Activities and Outcomes, defense organizations now have clear, structured framework for how Zero Trust principles should be applied within OT environments. Rather than remaining a high-level strategy, the document defines concrete activities and outcomes that help mission owners, infrastructure operators, and security leaders understand what effective Zero Trust looks like in operational, safety-critical systems.

For defense OT environments, the challenge is no longer defining Zero Trust in theory, but translating that framework into enforceable controls that work in real-world conditions. These environments must balance security with safety, uptime, and legacy system constraints, making implementation choices just as important as architectural intent.

To help answer that question, Xage has released a new whitepaper that maps Xage’s platform capabilities directly to the DoW’s Zero Trust for OT activities and outcomes, demonstrating why Xage delivers the most comprehensive Zero Trust coverage for defense OT environments.

The roadmap for achieving this is divided into seven pillars, containing 105 activities. 84 of the activities are considered “Target Level” which forms the baseline requirements required to be implemented by September 30, 2027. The remaining 21 activities are considered Advanced Zero Trust activities and must be achieved by 2032.

The seven pillars in the DoW Zero Trust Strategy, along with their target level and advanced level activities, are depicted in the DoW-produced chart below.

For a deeper dive, download our full coverage map document, which describes in detail how Xage delivers the requirements either as a standalone offering, or by integration with other solutions, to support the DoW and DIB contractors in rapidly achieving the Zero Trust requirements. 

Xage supports 92% of DoW Zero Trust Strategy for Operational Technology Activities and Functions. In some cases, certain configurations or conditions must be met to achieve full support. 

For more information about how DoW agencies like the U.S. Space Force, Air Force, and Navy  are already using Xage to pursue Zero Trust, visit our U.S. Government Industry page.