Bryan Rosensteel, Field CTO, US Federal Ping Identity, speaks with Katya Mijatovic, Principal Data Scientist at Data Society and CDO Magazine Editorial Board Member, about recruiting and upskilling staff and his approach to implementing new technologies.

Mijatovic interviewed Rosensteel on the sidelines of the recently conducted AFCEA CeVA Data Centric Summit.

Sharing a takeaway from his presentation, Rosensteel mentions the quote, “Authentication is merely the enabler of authorization.” He explains that people often think about the person behind the keyboard while thinking about identity. While authentication is important, he says that it is about understanding the digital identity — the different parts that make up who the person is at that time as they try to interact and access resources.

He explains that this understanding allows for informed decisions regarding access to resources. Moving forward, Rosensteel advocates for a cohesive approach among the pillars of zero trust. He emphasizes the need to avoid siloed development and instead focus on modernizing and integrating these components to enhance overall security measures.

Speaking about his approach to bridging the talent gap, Rosensteel suggests either upskilling existing staff or recruiting new professionals. He acknowledges the difficulty of acquiring qualified personnel, which poses challenges not only in identity management but also in handling data across various IT domains.

He proposes a solution that involves moving away from creating individual solutions for specific tasks and instead focusing on developing standardized processes and practices that can be applied universally. This approach aims to streamline access control and data classification procedures, enabling employees to be trained on these standardized practices and apply their skills consistently across different environments, whether it be enterprise, expeditionary, tactical, or detailed settings.

When asked about a technology that was most relevant and useful over the past years, Rosensteel mentions Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). He says that PKI's role in establishing standardized communication protocols was crucial in enabling cross-trust and interoperability among systems.

Rosensteel emphasizes the importance of learning from PKI's early days to accelerate the development of modern identity, credential, and access management (ICAM) systems, particularly in the realm of federation.

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