If that data cannot move quickly, securely and with confidence, operational advantage can disappear. Information that arrives late, has been altered, or cannot be verified slows decision making, disrupts coordination and increases risk. In an operating environment where decisions may need to be taken in seconds the integrity, and security, of data are mission critical, writes Luke Terry, CTO at Mindlink.
This challenge becomes even more significant as artificial intelligence is integrated into defence operations. AI enabled systems can process information and support decisions at a speed and scale beyond human capability. However, they remain dependent on the quality and trustworthiness of the data they receive. If the underlying data is inaccurate, manipulated or incomplete, AI can accelerate the wrong decision just as effectively as it can support the right one.
Velocity demands verification
Operational velocity depends on two closely connected factors; how quickly data can move, and how far that data can be trusted. It is not enough for information to simply reach its destination. It must arrive intact, remain confidential and be demonstrably authentic as it moves between systems, security domains, operational environments and allied partners. Speed without trust merely creates noise. While trust without speed creates delay, and modern military operations require both.
This is why encryption must be treated as a fundamental part of operational capability, rather than just an additional layer applied after systems have been designed. Data may pass through tactical networks, command centres, cloud environments, legacy systems and partner infrastructure. At every stage, there is a potential opportunity for interception, manipulation or unauthorised access.
Encryption protects the confidentiality of that information, ensuring that intercepted data cannot be readily understood or exploited. But confidentiality alone is not enough. Defence organisations must also be able to verify that data has not been modified, identify where it came from, and determine whether the recipient is authorised to access it.
Effective encryption must therefore be combined with integrity controls, authentication and persistent policy enforcement. Together, these measures help ensure that data remains protected and verifiable throughout its journey, rather than only while it is held within a trusted network.
Data centric security and zero trustย
Zero trust is often treated primarily as a network security, or identity and access management challenge. In practice, its full value emerges only when its principles are applied directly to the data.
A zero trust model assumes that no user, device, system or network should be considered inherently trustworthy. Every interaction must be verified, access must be limited to what is required, and activity must remain visible and auditable. That same assumption must extend to the information being exchanged. Data shouldnโt be trusted simply because it originated inside a particular network, or was transmitted by an authenticated user. Its provenance, integrity, classification and permitted use must also be continuously evaluated.
This is especially important in defence environments, where information regularly moves across organisational and national boundaries. Coalition operations depend on the rapid exchange of intelligence and mission information, but participating organisations may operate different networks, security classifications and access policies. Traditional perimeter-based security models struggle in these conditions. Once data leaves the originating network, control and visibility can be weakened. Instead, a data centric approach applies security controls to the information itself, allowing those protections to remain in place wherever the data travels.
Information protection as an enabler
Data centric security embeds protection into the data rather than relying solely on the security of the network around it. Encryption, access controls, integrity checks and usage policies remain associated with the information as it moves between systems and authorised users.
This can enable secure information sharing across domains and among coalition partners while retaining persistent control after the data has been distributed. It also provides stronger assurance around integrity and provenance, helping commanders and systems establish whether information is authentic and whether it has been altered. This approach can remove the perceived trade off between sharing data and maintaining control over it.
Defence organisations have often had to choose between restricting information to preserve security, or distributing it more widely to improve situational awareness. Excessively restrictive systems can create operational silos and slow decisions, while uncontrolled sharing can expose sensitive information and increase cyber risk.
When access policies and encryption travel with the data, information can be made available to the right people and systems without surrendering authority over how it is used. Security becomes an enabler of operational speed rather, than an obstacle to it.
Speed with governance
One of the defining challenges of modern operations is moving data faster without losing trust, visibility or authority. But this becomes increasingly challenging as defence networks grow more distributed, and operations rely on a greater number of sensors, autonomous platforms and external partners. Information may need to move between environments with varying levels of connectivity and security, while remaining protected throughout.
Strong encryption and zero trust principles provide a foundation for addressing this challenge. Every request to access information can be verified, every exchange can be governed by policy and every action can be recorded for audit. If circumstances change, access can be restricted without relying on the data remaining inside a fixed perimeter.
This also matters for autonomous and AI enabled systems. Machine speed decision making requires data that can be authenticated and trusted without introducing unnecessary delay. If systems cannot establish the integrity and provenance of information quickly, the operational benefits of automation will be undermined.
