IA Importance and Key Characteristics

Information Assurance (IA) capabilities and components that support the net-centric GIG vision are a near-term DoD imperative. The IA objectives in support of the GIG architectures are:

  • To develop common unifying approaches for DoD components and the Intelligence Community, and
  • To apply these approaches in the development and acquisition of systems incorporating IA and IA-enabled products and services.
The essential element is that IA be an embedded feature, designed into every system, holistically, within the family of systems that comprise the GIG. This requires a shift from today's model consisting predominantly of link encryption and boundary protection between multiple discrete networks, to an end-to-end, seamlessly interconnected information environment using "Defense-in-Depth."