I’m joined by Jason Healey, a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs, for this episode of Hack the Plant. Jason is a pioneer of cyber threat intelligence, with experience spanning fifteen years across the public and private sectors. 

Today, we discuss a recent article Jason published at Lawfare, looking at 25 years of White House cyber policies, from the Clinton to the Biden administrations. We explore how regulatory policy has become more sophisticated over time, and the evolving nature of threats.

“One of the biggest debates right now amongst the international affairs community – is cyber really dangerous? You've got some people that look at how cyber capabilities have been used over the past two decades, how it's currently being used in Ukraine, and say, ‘it’s difficult to use this stuff, and frankly it’s not as dangerous as we think.' I tend to be on the more pessimistic side … if you're targeting things made of ones and zeros or things made of silicon, cyber can often not be that big a deal. But with smart grids, industrial control systems, and other things connected to the internet, it's not just things made of ones and zeros and silicon.  Cyber attacks can take down  things made of concrete and steel.”

To what extent is cyber necessary as part of a defense strategy? How has our regulatory approach changed over 25 years?  Join us to learn more.