State and local government leaders said on Tuesday that shrinking federal grant support and tighter local budgets are forcing them to rethink how they fund and scale zero trust efforts, even as cyber threats continue to grow.

With a March presidential executive order putting some breathing room between the Federal government and states on cybersecurity protections – and state and local governments hoping for a second go-round of funding from Congress under the 2021 State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) – we checked in with Gary Barlet, Illumio’s public sector chief technology officer, for his read on the new landscape.