Cyber From The Start

In this episode Jim Lewis interviews William J. “Bill” Lynn, CEO of Leonardo DRS, a leading defense contractor, about his time as the Comptroller and Deputy Secretary of Defense. At the Department of Defense (DoD) he created a new kind of partnership between companies in the defense industrial base (DIB) through the DIB program and helped reorient DoD to treat cyber as a fifth domain.

Host Jim Lewis interviews Dick Clarke, who served as a senior advisor in the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, helping to create the first national cybersecurity strategy. He began looking at cybersecurity as a national security issue in the ‘90s and has been central to thinking about cybersecurity for decades. They discuss the awakening of government and industry to cybersecurity threats, the real implications of cyber attacks, and the difficulties of coordinating government efforts.

In this first episode, host Jim Lewis interviews John Hamre, President and CEO of CSIS and Former Deputy Secretary of Defense. He was one of the first to recognize the strategic implications of cybersecurity and cyber conflict, and who helped lead the DoD in its early approaches to emerging cyber issues. He discusses the hacking incidents that first alerted policymakers to the cyber threats faced by the U.S.; the obstacles and successes in working with other agencies, Congress, and the private sector to address cyber threats; and how to chart a path towards developing structures and doctrines to manage cyber risks.