Redefining US Federal Audit: Why the US Government Needs a 'Zero Trust' Approach to Defeat Fraud
Irakli Petriashvili
1/19/20262 min read
Old Wine in New Bottles? Recently Realized GAO’s latest technical guide on combating fraud (January 2026). It is a thorough document, professional and detailed. But as I read through it keeping in mind the findings from my upcoming research paper for IBM- I couldn't shake the feeling that I was seeing a replay of the same old style, just with different wording.
The GAO report places "Organizational Culture" as the very first step. It argues, correctly, that you can have the best AI in the world, but if your people don't feel safe speaking up, or if the "vibe" in the office tolerates shortcuts, fraud will still happen. While this is true, relying on it as a primary defense is where the system fails
The current approach to federal financial audit treats fraud prevention as something to be "refined." But refinement is not enough. The harsh reality is that these traditional approaches are not resistant against modern fraud.
US Federal Audit system don't need a tune-up; it need a strategic transformation. The report introduces data analytics as a powerful domain, but it still treats the "Human Element" as the fragile core. As long as we rely on "culture" and retroactive "sampling" (checking a few transactions after the fact), we are leaving the door open for bad actors. Sampling is a remnant of a paper-based world. In a digital world, it is simply not good enough
So, what is the alternative? My research philosophy suggests we need an "out of the box" vision. We need to move away from trusting that everything is okay until proven otherwise, and move toward a Zero Trust architecture. This isn't about mistrusting people; it is about protecting them. We need an anti-fraud "Triad" that can truly defeat fraud in the federal government:
Zero Trust Systems: Architecture where verification is constant, not occasional.
Proactive AI: Systems that don't wait for a year-end audit to find a problem.
Total Data Analytics: Moving beyond "sampling" to analyze 100% of transactions in real-time.
This might sound technical, but the reasoning is deeply humanistic. When we build systems that proactively prevent fraud, we aren't just saving money. We are creating an environment where public servants can do their jobs without fear. We remove the burden of "policing" from the culture and let the system handle the integrity.
This is the future I am exploring in my upcoming IBM paper. I can't share all the details yet, but stay tuned—because the way we think about public trust is about to change.
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2026). Combating Fraud: Approaches to Evaluate Effectiveness and Demonstrate Integrity (GAO-26-107609). [https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107609]
