The U.S. Navy’s Playbook for Cost-Controlled, Reliable Cybersecurity

Cloud-first isn’t the right fit, and the U.S. Navy proved why.
One smart switch to Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) gave the Navy fewer agents, faster endpoints and real, measurable performance gains.
With trusted partner Carahsoft, the Navy scaled security and closed critical gaps across air-gapped environments.

As government agencies modernize their cybersecurity stacks, many are discovering go-to, cloud-first security tools don’t always meet the needs of their mission-critical or air-gapped environments. The U.S. Navy recently confronted this reality in their own security stack.

The Navy’s experience reflects a growing truth across government IT: Modernization doesn’t look the same for everyone, especially in disconnected or high-security environments. Like the Navy, agencies in highly regulated environments must balance innovation and practicality if they hope to keep pace with emerging, sophisticated threats.

Why the Navy’s endpoint security needed an upgrade

In recent years, the Navy has advanced several new beneficial security initiatives that also brought challenges right along with them. One effort centered on a leading endpoint security provider that performed well in cloud-connected environments but struggled in isolated air-gapped environments—of which the Navy had many.

At the same time, the growth of AI workloads introduced a new financial variable. AI brought noticeable productivity gains for users, but also drove up cloud costs significantly. With this in mind, all signs pointed to on-prem and air-gapped solutions for budget control.

To keep workflows airtight, even in air-gapped environments, the Navy chose Symantec solutions via Catalyst Partner Carahsoft and Leidos to modernize its endpoint security and close critical gaps. The results offer insight into what a unified, cost-controlled security strategy can achieve when security is built around mission realities and guided by experienced partners.