Federal leaders from OMB, NIST, and USDA are pushing for a cultural reset to fix the 210-day average approval bottleneck. The goal? Slashing that timeline to 60 days or less.
The High-Impact Shift:
⇢ Stop the “No-Decision” Loop: Nick Polk (OMB) noted that in the current process, “Nobody says no, but nobody says yes.” New policies will force distinct, early decisions to get systems running faster.
⇢ Culture vs. Compliance: NIST is calling out the “compliance shop” mentality. If your ATO is a bottleneck, it’s a cultural problem. Security controls must be tailored to the mission, not just checked off a list.
⇢ Automate & Reuse: By sharing reusable ATO packages and automating manual documentation, agencies like the USDA have already cut approval times by 70%.
Federal cybersecurity is no longer about how many boxes you can check—it’s about how fast you can safely deliver technology to the mission.
Read the full breakdown: [Link]