Arckit Us Zero Trust

⚠️ Community-contributed command — not part of the officially-maintained ArcKit baseline. Output should be reviewed by qualified US federal counsel, your agency's Senior Agency Official for Privacy (SAOP), CISO, Chief AI Officer (CAIO), and (for FedRAMP matters) the agency PMO and 3PAO before reliance.

Statutory currency: EO 14110 was revoked January 2025; the active AI assurance mandates are OMB M-24-10 (use of AI) and OMB M-25-21 (acquisition of AI). FedRAMP completed the transition to NIST 800-53 Rev 5 baselines in 2024 — Rev 4 references are deprecated. Verify all citations against the current Federal Register, OMB Circulars page, NIST publications, and FedRAMP.gov before relying on this output.

You are an enterprise architect assessing a US federal civilian system against the CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model (ZTMM) v2.0.

User Input

$ARGUMENTS

Context

OMB M-22-09 directs federal agencies to "Move toward a Zero Trust Architecture" by FY24 end-state targets. CISA publishes the Zero Trust Maturity Model as the federal civilian reference framework. Version 2.0 (April 2023) defines 5 pillars — Identity, Devices, Networks, Applications & Workloads, Data — and 3 cross-cutting capabilities — Visibility & Analytics, Automation & Orchestration, Governance. Each pillar and cross-cut is scored across 4 maturity stages: Traditional → Initial → Advanced → Optimal.

NIST SP 800-207 is the foundational Zero Trust Architecture specification (logical components: Policy Engine, Policy Administrator, Policy Enforcement Point; trust algorithms; deployment variants). The ZTMM operationalises 800-207 for federal civilian agencies and maps to the OMB M-22-09 target end-state.

Authoritative anchors:

• CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model v2.0 — https://www.cisa.gov/zero-trust-maturity-model
• CISA ZTMM v2.0 PDF — https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-04/CISA_Zero_Trust_Maturity_Model_Version_2_508c.pdf
• OMB M-22-09 (Moving the U.S. Government Toward Zero Trust Cybersecurity Principles) — https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/M-22-09.pdf
• NIST SP 800-207 (Zero Trust Architecture) — https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-207.pdf
• NIST SP 800-207A (A Zero Trust Architecture Model for Access Control in Cloud-Native Applications in Multi-Cloud Environments) — https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-207A.pdf
• DoD Zero Trust Reference Architecture v2.0 (cross-reference for defence overlay) — https://dodcio.defense.gov/Library/

Process

1. Read prerequisites:

   • projects/000-global/ARC-000-PRIN-*.md (architecture principles, if present)
   • The project's NIST 800-53 control-tailoring artefact (if present) — for AC, IA, SC, SI control evidence
   • The project's HLD / DLD and architecture diagrams — for network architecture, segmentation posture, identity flows
   • The project's FedRAMP SSP (if present) — for Types-of-Users, interconnections, network architecture sections
   • .arckit/templates/_partials/RENDERING.md

2. Read the template:

   • First, check .arckit/templates-custom/us-zero-trust-template.md (user override)
   • Then, .arckit/templates/us-zero-trust-template.md
   • Fallback, .arckit/templates/us-zero-trust-template.md

3. Use scripts/bash/create-project.sh --json --name "<project-name>" if the project does not yet exist; otherwise locate it.

4. Use node scripts/generate-document-id.mjs <PROJECT_ID> ZTA --filename for the artefact filename. The type code for this command is ZTA.

5. Resolve the <!-- DOC-CONTROL-HEADER --> marker per RENDERING.md before writing the artefact. RENDERING.md hard-routes the US regime to _partials/document-control-us.md, which already carries the EO 13526 / 32 CFR Part 2002 marking ladder — no per-command classification override is needed.

6. Generate the following sections:

   • System Scope — system name, mission, in-scope components, current network architecture summary, and the M-22-09 target date alignment.
   • Maturity Assessment — 5 Pillars — for each pillar (Identity, Devices, Networks, Applications & Workloads, Data) score Current and Target maturity across the 4 stages (Traditional / Initial / Advanced / Optimal) per the ZTMM v2.0 function tables. For each function within a pillar, record: function description, current stage with evidence (1–2 sentences), target stage, gap actions.
   • Maturity Assessment — 3 Cross-Cuts — same shape for Visibility & Analytics, Automation & Orchestration, Governance.
   • Maturity Heatmap Data — produce a structured table (markdown) suitable for rendering as a heatmap: rows = pillars + cross-cuts, columns = the ZTMM functions, cell = current stage code (T/I/A/O). Include a parallel target-state heatmap.
   • Prioritised Uplift Roadmap — sequence of initiatives to move from current → target, grouped by FY (FY26 / FY27 / FY28+). Each initiative records: name, pillar(s) affected, owning team, dependencies, estimated effort (T-shirt), policy / contractual blockers.
   • OMB M-22-09 End-State Alignment — explicit mapping of current posture to the five M-22-09 strategic goals (Identity, Devices, Networks, Applications & Workloads, Data) and the specific action items in the memo.
   • 800-53 Control Linkage — table mapping each ZTMM function to the NIST 800-53 Rev 5 controls that evidence it (e.g. Identity / Authentication → IA-2, IA-2(1), IA-2(2), IA-5, IA-8; Networks / Network Segmentation → SC-7, SC-7(4), SC-7(5), SC-7(8); Data / Data Encryption → SC-13, SC-28, SC-28(1)).

7. Before writing the file, read .arckit/references/quality-checklist.md and verify all Common Checks plus the ZTA per-type checks pass. Fix any failures before proceeding.

8. Use the Write tool to save the artefact at the path returned by create-project.sh + generate-document-id.mjs.

9. Emit a short summary to the user — overall maturity (e.g. "Initial across Identity and Networks; Traditional elsewhere"), top three gaps, target FY for Advanced posture, and the count of M-22-09 action items unaddressed. Do not echo the full artefact.

Handoffs

Identity-pillar gaps drive the ICAM architecture (/skill:arckit-us-icam) — particularly IAL/AAL/FAL determination and PIV / login.gov integration. The ZTMM-to-800-53 mapping flags controls in the NIST 800-53 artefact (/skill:arckit-us-nist-800-53) that may require re-tailoring or compensating-control entries. Architectural decisions to reach Advanced or Optimal maturity (e.g. service-mesh selection, policy-decision-point platform, microsegmentation strategy) should be captured as ADRs via /skill:arckit-adr.

Important Notes

• CISA ZTMM v2.0 is the civilian reference — for DoD systems use the DoD Zero Trust Reference Architecture v2.0 and the DoD Zero Trust Strategy. The two frameworks overlap but use different capability taxonomies; do not blend them in a single assessment.
• Maturity is not a single number — score per-function, then aggregate to a pillar-level posture. Reporting a single "we are at Initial" hides the pillar-level variance that the M-22-09 roadmap depends on.
• Identity and Data are typically the lagging pillars — federal civilian agencies most often score Traditional on Data (encryption-at-rest is solved but data-tagging, DLP, and rights-management are not) and Initial on Identity (PIV is solved but phishing-resistant MFA for non-PIV populations is not). Plan accordingly.
• Visibility & Analytics is a cross-cut, not an afterthought — without comprehensive telemetry, neither Automation & Orchestration nor Governance can be scored above Initial. Sequence the roadmap to fund V&A first.
• OMB M-22-09 deadlines are passed but the policy is not — the FY24 milestones in M-22-09 have lapsed for many agencies, but the underlying policy direction remains. Audit pressure tracks the maturity model, not the calendar.
• Networks pillar is not "perimeter retirement" — Zero Trust does not eliminate network controls; it shifts them from a single perimeter to per-segment, per-flow enforcement. Be precise about microsegmentation strategy, encrypted-in-transit-by-default, and east-west inspection.
• Governance cross-cut is where most implementations fail — automated policy enforcement requires policy-as-code, versioning, drift detection, and exception handling. Without these, an "Advanced" Identity pillar with a Traditional Governance cross-cut is fragile.

Suggested Next Steps

After completing this command, consider running:

• /skill:arckit-us-icam -- Identity-pillar gaps drive the ICAM architecture (IAL/AAL/FAL determination, PIV / login.gov integration).
• /skill:arckit-us-nist-800-53 -- Zero Trust controls map back to specific 800-53 controls (AC, IA, SC, SI families); deficient maturity stages flag controls for re-tailoring.
• /skill:arckit-adr -- Architectural decisions to reach Advanced or Optimal maturity (e.g. micro-segmentation strategy, policy-decision-point selection) warrant ADRs.