Cyber Security Weekly Podcast

Interview by Jane Lo, Singapore Correspondent with Dr. Herbert Lin, Senior research scholar, Cyber Policy and Security, Center for International Security and Cooperation; Hank J. Holland Fellow, Cyber Policy and Security, Hoover Institution; and Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In addition to his positions at Stanford University, Dr. Lin is Chief Scientist, Emeritus for the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies, where he served from 1990 through 2014 as study director of major projects on public policy and information technology, and Adjunct Senior Research Scholar and Senior Fellow in Cybersecurity (not in residence) at the Saltzman Institute for War and Peace Studies in the School for International and Public Affairs at Columbia University; and a member of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. He served on President Obama’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity.

Prior to his NRC service, he was a professional staff member and staff scientist for the House Armed Services Committee (1986-1990), where his portfolio included defense policy and arms control issues. He received his doctorate in physics from MIT.

Dr. Lin’s research interests relate broadly to policy-related dimensions of cybersecurity and cyberspace, and he is particularly interested in and knowledgeable about the use of offensive operations in cyberspace, especially as instruments of national policy.

Avocationally, Dr. Lin is a long-time folk and swing dancer and a poor magician. Apart from his work on cyberspace and cybersecurity, he is published in cognitive science, science education, biophysics, and arms control and defense policy. He also consults on K-12 math and science education.

In this podcast, Dr Lin discussed cyber influence and the modern phenomenon of misinformation, offering historical perspectives and insights into how technological tools are leveraged in today’s misinformation campaigns.

He emphasised the key differences between cyber operations and cyber enabled information operations, where the former (e.g. ransomware) targets computer systems, the latter (misinformation) targets our hearts and minds.  Giving examples observed in the U.S., he noted challenges with implementing effective mitigation measures against misinformation whilst preserving the free flow of ideas.

He also addressed some commonly asked questions for deploying misinformation and information warfare as a psychological operation from a national security perspective.

With non-stop advances in technology and no-shortage of opportunities to sow misinformation, Dr. Lin also shared his thoughts on the evolution of the threat landscape.

We speak with Drago Gvozdanovic, CEO of Cynterra, based in Canberra.

In an Australian first, cybersecurity and data analysis firm Cynterra, has won a major contract to provide the Australian Government’s Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) with a new generation Secure Internet Gateway (SIG). The first of its kind SIG is based on Cynterra’s fully IRAP assessed Secure Cloud Platform (SCP), spending years in research and development to deliver an agile and scalable architecture with the ability to customise security gateways to different areas of a business.

This allows for compliance and enforcement of Government security requirements to any organisational environment.

Recorded and streamed live on Tuesday 27 April 2021 - video version available at https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/av-media/cynterra-wins-major-dta-contract-for-secure-internet-gateway/ (https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/av-media/cynterra-wins-major-dta-contract-for-secure-internet-gateway/)

Thanks for tuning in and stay tuned for more... #MySecurityTV​ (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/mysecuritytv)​ #cybersecurity​ (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/cybersecurity)​ #cynterra​ (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/cynterra)​ #SIG​ (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/sig)​ #secureinternetgateway (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/secureinternetgateway)

We cross to Silicon Valley and speak with Amir Khan, President, CEO & Founder of cloud computing platform Alkira and their start-up program with Microsoft.

Alkira has announced a close collaboration with the Microsoft for Startups program, a select group of emerging businesses hand-picked by Microsoft for the benefits they offer to Microsoft Azure customers in their journey to the cloud. The select start-ups receive growth partnership and ecosystem support from Microsoft including access to technical, sales and marketing opportunities and leadership. Alkira also announced that the Alkira Cloud Services Exchange (CSX) – the core of the company’s Network Cloud platform – is now available on the Azure Marketplace.

Amir Khan is a computer networking visionary who founded and led Viptela’s market-leading, cloud-first, Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) business before its acquisition by Cisco. Amir has held leadership roles at Cisco, Juniper, and Nortel. He holds 4 patents. Amir earned an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Mississippi.

#mysecurityTV #cloudcomputing #cloudnetworking #Azure #startups #microsoft #alkira

For the full video interview, recorded Friday 23 April 2021, available here https://youtu.be/qVE06EFMHc0 (https://youtu.be/qVE06EFMHc0)

We speak with Ron Gauci, CEO of the Australian Information Industry Association to discuss their call for sufficient funding into Australia's national Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategy.

The AIIA is calling on the Federal Government to allocate $250 million in the May budget to ensure Australia becomes a global leader in AI research and commercialisation and doesn’t fall behind its international peers.

When the Government does announce its National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy it must come with significant funding over the $29.9 million it currently contributes over four years. The Australian Government commissioned the Artificial Intelligence: Solving problems, growing the economy and improving our quality of life, in November 2019 to assist its AI Roadmap which outlines the many opportunities and benefits available from investing in a National AI Strategy.

The AIIA is urging the Federal Government to support AI efforts, and focus on supporting R&D through to commercialisation of innovative products and services. This will help to maximise the return for Australian businesses and boost the AI sector and ensure our traditional industries remain internationally competitive including in agriculture, finance, health and manufacturing.

#artificialintelligence #AIIA #AI

For the full video interview, recorded 20 April, 2020 - available here https://youtu.be/BtlvpRcBbL8 (https://youtu.be/BtlvpRcBbL8)

Full release available here - https://smartcitiestech.io/2021/04/aiia-urges-morrison-government-to-fully-fund-a-national-ai-strategy/ (https://smartcitiestech.io/2021/04/aiia-urges-morrison-government-to-fully-fund-a-national-ai-strategy/)

We speak with Anthony Stevens, Founder & CEO of 6clicks.

6clicks is making a big announcement, backed by Microsoft, where the company is launching an IRAP PROTECTED assessed instance of their platform for defence and government market - 6clicks for Government.

Following their recent $5.5M capital raise, the company also announced this week that Matt Gyde, former CEO of billion-dollar global technology services company NTT Security has joined the team as Non-Executive Director.

Matt’s career in IT security spans more than 20 years, with a rich history including high-level roles with Dimension Data and Datacraft-Asia, providing him a deep understanding of how security platforms should be implemented and managed to ensure clients’ business outcomes are achieved while ensuring their risk is minimised.

This is our second interview with Anthony and looking forward to following the company's rise. Stay tuned! #6clicks (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/6clicks) #mysecuritytv

For the full video interview, recorded Friday 16 April, 2021  - available here https://youtu.be/1uOZnUB_-mk (https://youtu.be/1uOZnUB_-mk)

Full media release - https://australiancybersecuritymagazine.com.au/6clicks-and-microsoft-partner-to-meet-australian-government-and-defence-security-requirements/ (https://australiancybersecuritymagazine.com.au/6clicks-and-microsoft-partner-to-meet-australian-government-and-defence-security-requirements/)

We speak with Chris Althaus who was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) in 2005.

AMTA is the peak industry organisation representing Australia’s mobile telecommunications sector and operates programs covering all aspects of the mobile ecosystem such as - telecommunications policy, mobile network infrastructure, radiofrequency spectrum, health & safety, product stewardship / e-waste and recycling, national security, content regulation and consumer awareness & education.

Chris discusses the latest information and research from leading organisations to explain why 5G is not harmful to human health and how 5G will impact Australia this year, including the benefits of 5G and how it will support our COVID-19 recovery.

For a copy of Cyber Risk Leaders Magazine - Issue 4 - Why 5G Matters - here - https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/books/cyber-risk-leaders-magazine-issue-4-2021/ (https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/books/cyber-risk-leaders-magazine-issue-4-2021/)

Thanks for tuning in and stay tuned for more... #MySecurityTV​ #5G​ #5Gnetworks​

MySec.TV Version is available here - https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/av-media/why-5g-matters/ (https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/av-media/why-5g-matters/)

We speak with Anna Leibel and Claire Pales on their new book - The Secure Board.

This latest book is the second book f...

Professor Dr. Nasir Memon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasir_Memon) is Vice Dean for Academics and Student Affairs and a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the New York University (NYU) Tandon School of Engineering. He is a co-founder of NYU's Center for Cyber Security (CCS) at New York as well as NYU Abu Dhabi.

He is an affiliate faculty at the Computer Science department in NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and department head of NYU Tandon Online. He introduced cyber security studies to NYU Tandon in 1999, making it one of the first schools to implement the program at the undergraduate level. He is the founder of the OSIRIS Lab, CSAW, The Bridge to Tandon Program as well as the Cyber Fellows program at NYU. He has received several best paper awards and awards for excellence in teaching. He has been on the editorial boards of several journals, and was the Editor-In-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Information Security and Forensics.

In this podcast, Professor Memon traces the highlights in the evolution of AI technologies, and how breakthrough work in “deep” neural network powered by the rapid development in processing power led to the explosion of today’s “deepfakes”.  Giving examples of convincing “deepfakes”, he also notes the emergence of “cheapfakes” and “shallowfakes”.

He points out the changing landscape as the prevalence of “deepfakes” grows, including the development of “deepfake-as-a-service” and other monetization opportunities for threat actors, and the potential of misinformation being weaponised by nation state actors as “deepfakes” are added to their cyber attacks arsenal.

As the world of “deepfakes” creation and detection becomes a cat-and-mouse game, he stresses the need for going beyond passive detection to a proactive approach of embedding integrity measures for image provenance.

With truth under attack as “deepfakes” technologies grow more sophisticated, he also sees the need for a societal shift towards becoming more sceptical in general and advises us: “do not jump into conclusions, look for corroborative evidence”.

Recorded Singapore 17th March 2021 7.15am / New York 16th March 2021 7.15pm.

We speak with Sean Duca, Vice President and Regional Chief Security Officer for APJ at Palo Alto Networks and walk through Unit 42's latest Ransomware Threat Report.

The findings indicate a surge in ransomware demands during 2020 revealing that the average ransom payment to cyber criminals almost tripled. The highest ransom paid to hackers increased from $6.4 million in 2019 to $12.9 million in 2020 and the highest ransom demanded from hackers doubled from $19.3 million in 2019 to $38.6 million in 2020.

LINK TO REPORT: https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/reports/2021-ransomware-threat-report/ (https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/reports/2021-ransomware-threat-report/ )​

Video Version - https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/av-media/ransomware-payments-near-triple-growth-in-2020-palo-alto-networks/ (https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/av-media/ransomware-payments-near-triple-growth-in-2020-palo-alto-networks/ )

Recorded 19 March 2021 - MySec.TV

Previous episodes with Sean Duca: https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/speakers/sean-duca/ (https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/speakers/sean-duca/)

Jane Lo, Singapore Correspondent speaks with Professor Sean Smith, Director at National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) following SuperComputing Asia 2021.