| name | arckit-us-zero-trust |
| description | [COMMUNITY] Assess a US federal civilian system against the CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model v2.0 — scoring 5 pillars (Identity, Devices, Networks, Apps & Workloads, Data) and 3 cross-cuts (Visibility & Analytics, Automation & Orchestration, Governance) across 4 maturity stages. |
⚠️ 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Statutory currency: EO 14110 was revoked January 2025; the active AI assurance mandates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:
Process
-
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
-
Read the template:
- First, check
.arckit/templates-custom/us-zero-trust-template.md (user override)
- Then,
.arckit/templates-custom/us-zero-trust-template.md
- Fallback,
.arckit/templates/us-zero-trust-template.md
-
Use scripts/bash/create-project.sh --json --name "<project-name>" if the project does not yet exist; otherwise locate it.
-
Use node scripts/generate-document-id.mjs <PROJECT_ID> ZTA --filename for the artefact filename. The type code for this command is ZTA.
-
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.
-
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.
Handoffs
Identity-pillar gaps drive the ICAM architecture ($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 ($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 $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:
$arckit-us-icam -- Identity-pillar gaps drive the ICAM architecture (IAL/AAL/FAL determination, PIV / login.gov integration).
$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.
$arckit-adr -- Architectural decisions to reach Advanced or Optimal maturity (e.g. micro-segmentation strategy, policy-decision-point selection) warrant ADRs.