The saying “the best defense is a strong offense” is proving to be a guiding principle for modern government cybersecurity. Traditional cybersecurity focused on keeping the “bad guys” out by putting up a defensive layer. As attackers got more savvy, the focus of cyber protection moved from if you would get breached to when you would get breached, leading to a resilience mindset.
Modern resilience is not passive. Government is increasingly emphasizing a more proactive approach that identifies threats earlier, disrupts adversaries, and makes it harder for attacks to succeed in the first place.
Adversary Focus
The first pillar in the National Cyber Security Strategy released earlier this year is “Shape Adversary Behavior.” The direction is for agencies to impose costs on malicious actors. To do so requires coordination with the private sector to identify and disrupt malicious behavior before it can impact networks. The FBI’s cyber strategy is designed to create consistency and collaboration in cyber operations across field offices, private sector partners, and international allies to develop strategies focused on specific adversaries. One example of this type of effort is the FBI’s takedown of LeakBase, an online forum cyber criminals used to buy and sell stolen data and cybercrime tools.
Prioritize Risk
Agencies have more than enough data; what they lack is a way to make sense of it all. Traditional vulnerability management does not differentiate between the severity of vulnerabilities. As a result every needed remediation looks like an emergency, resulting in alert fatigue for security professionals. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Office of Management and Budget and the Chief Information Security Officer Council developed a new logging architecture to help agencies prioritize risks for remediation and attention.
Reframe Security Responsibility
The forthcoming Pentagon Cyber Strategy is expected to further integrate cyber operations with routine military planning. This means that offensive cyber tactics would be increasingly planned alongside tactical weapon use.
Proactive cyber attacks are moving beyond the realm of the military. Earlier this year, the president directed that a program be created to allow authorized U.S. companies to conduct cyber operations (at the direction of the government) against criminal organizations.
To stay on top of how agencies are implementing federal cyber guidance, check out these resources from GovWhitePapers and GovEvents:
- Cybersecurity & Zero Trust Trends: Defending at Machine Speed (white paper) – Federal agencies face a cybersecurity environment defined by AI-powered threats, expanding attack surfaces, workforce shortages, and increasing demands for operational resilience. This report examines four trends shaping the next generation of Federal cyber defense: comprehensive device visibility for Zero Trust, AI-assisted threat detection and alert prioritization, secure adoption of emerging AI technologies, and resilience operations that keep critical functions running during disruption.
- DevSecOps for the Future of Government IT (white paper) – Government agencies are modernizing how they build and secure digital services by fully integrating development, security, and operations. This approach moves security earlier in the lifecycle, enabling continuous testing, automated compliance, and real-time risk insights—far beyond traditional, checklist-driven methods.
- Top 10 Cyber Workforce Trends for Government (white paper) – Government agencies are transforming how they recruit, develop, and retain cybersecurity professionals to address growing workforce shortages and evolving cyber threats. This report highlights ten major workforce trends shaping federal cybersecurity, including skills-based hiring, AI workforce integration, cyber apprenticeships, workforce analytics, retention strategies, rotational programs, and the adoption of the NICE Workforce Framework.
- Hacker Halted 2026 – Cybersecurity Conference in Atlanta, GA (October 8, 2026; Atlanta, GA) – This event will explore the carnival of cyber threats, tricks, and triumphs. It is a celebration of creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking, qualities that define the best in cybersecurity.
- Cybersecurity Summit 2026 (October 14, 2026; Reston, VA) – Leaders from federal, state, and academia, along with private sector innovators and cybersecurity experts, will explore cybersecurity, advanced technologies, threat assessment and mitigation, utilization of Agentic AI and Zero Trust principles, fostering a highly skilled and adaptive cyber workforce, and more.
- Moving Cyber Defense at the Speed of Threat (October 15, 2026; webinar) – This webinar walks through how to close the gap between advisory and detection using a recent real-world example: see how the FBI deployed working detection across customer environments within three hours of an advisory release.
- The Shift from Automation to Agency (November 4, 2026; webinar) – Automation promised to free security teams from the alert treadmill, but for many organizations, it created a new one. This session will share survey data from practitioners across industries on what the transition from automation to genuine agency actually looks like in 2026.
Search GovWhitePapers and GovEvents to find even more information on the move to offensive and proactive cyber efforts in government.
