To The Point - Cybersecurity

This week Eric and Rachael get To The Point on the latest cybersecurity headlines such as Colonial Pipeline, ransomware and the double extortion trend and the new Biden Executive Order on improving the nation's cybersecurity. And a new Gartner report this month noting cyber spending will grow to $150 Billion this year, yet cloud security is the most under invested category. And, the cyber industry in the US has more than 500,000 job openings and when starting salaries are up to $90k why aren't more people pursuing a career in what is by far the most exciting industry in the years ahead. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e139

Award-winning blogger, researcher, podcaster and man who coined the phrase "the cloud is just someone else's computer", Graham Clulely joins this week's podcast to discuss the many ironies in cyber today. And he deep dives into the reward system that social networks deliver for creating tribes as well as the cultural chasm being driven through misinformation, disinformation and deepfakes today and the criticality of discourse with people of differing positions. He also shares the winning formula for his wildly popular, funny and informative podcast "Smashing Security" and why he's skeptical of future predictions such as predicting what scares you about what the next decade in cyber will bring. Can that even be predicted?! For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e138

Buckle up for this week's fast-paced podcast discussion with Lance James, CEO of Unit 221B (note: you get three guesses what this is a reference to –or, listen to the podcast to learn more!). Lance takes us on the wild ride of cyber history including his discovery of the Zeus malware in 2006, how the show Mr. Robot delved into the mind of the hacker, what it takes to understand the adversarial mindset of an attack, and the emergence of psyber (the intersection of data science, psychology and cyber). He also shares perspective on the ongoing AI debate between AI + people and automated AI, the pendulum in dealing with the Internet Age and a cultural defense, and the importance of transparency and training in how we protect and empower employees as the critical first line of defense. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e137

This week Nicole Perlroth, award-winning journalist for The New York Times and best-selling author of "This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends" joins the podcast to discuss her decade long journey covering cybersecurity and many terrifying discoveries navigating through the underbelly of the secretive cyberweapons market. She shares insights on the importance of making cyber understanding and awareness accessible to all audiences. And she details the many challenges governments and society face today as cyberattacks continue to ratchet up in scope of disruption and financial rewards with no consequences as we collectively wait for "the big event" that will be the forcing function to drive needed investment, global cooperation, and changed behaviors to truly take some of the advantage out of attackers' hands. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e136

For this week's episode we catch up with LaLisha Hurt, Deputy Chief Information Security Officer for General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) and recognized Cyber Wonder Warrior. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e135

Enrique Oti, Chief Technology Officer for Second Front Systems joins us for a candid discussion on the opportunities and challenges in innovating government software development, deployment and acquisition as founder of the U.S. Air Force's Kessel Run program and co-founder of the Defense Innovation Unit in Silicon Valley. He shares insights on finding the right talent to build teams, importance of red team testing and continuous monitoring, how compliance introduces insecurity into the system, and what we could achieve when accrediting teams sit with developers. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e134

Welcome to our first SPECIAL EPISODE where we cover breaking news as it happens. Today we catch up with Joe Uchill, senior reporter at SC Media, to discuss the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack making headlines this week and why we continue to see escalating attacks in frequency, ransom demands and high value targets such as critical infrastructure. Joe shares insights from his many years reporting from the cyber front lines speaking with government, regulatory, industry and hacking groups on what it would take to decrease the financial incentive and increase the criminal risk to make ransomware an undesirable pursuit. Spoiler alerts….ransomware gangs make mistakes and often hit "accidental" targets, regulating cryptocurrency is just as hard as it sounds, and while ransomware task forces can't agree on the most effective solution(s) to mitigate ransomware, most agree global cooperation would be at the top of the list! For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e133

Part 2 of our two-part series with Mariam Baksh, Cybersecurity Policy Reporter at NextGov. As a reporter on the front lines of security policy as it happens Mariam shares perspective on how cyber picked her, rhetorical catchphrases shaping global perception and cyber responses, gaining clarity on if or where cyber policy and partisan lines are drawn, drawing the line on sanctions, hybrid attacks, Cyber Diplomacy Act, the roles of standards bodies, auditing and incident response teams, and potential impact of a low price technically acceptable approach. You won't want to miss this insightful two-part discussion! For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e132

This week we kick off a two-part series with Mariam Baksh, Cybersecurity Policy Reporter at NextGov. As a reporter on the front lines of security policy as it happens Mariam shares perspective on how cyber picked her, rhetorical catchphrases shaping global perception and cyber responses, gaining clarity on if or where cyber policy and partisan lines are drawn, drawing the line on sanctions, hybrid attacks, Cyber Diplomacy Act, the roles of standards bodies, auditing and incident response teams, and potential impact of a low price technically acceptable approach. You won't want to miss this insightful two-part discussion! For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e131

This week we discuss the importance of a focus on assuring resiliency of critical functions as the cybersecurity path ahead with Eric Goldstein, Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity for the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Eric also shares insights on executing CISA's mission in today's dynamic and exciting cybersecurity landscape, the criticality in prioritization and a risk-based approach in addressing security for critical infrastructure, the role of visibility and continuous assessment in addressing today's cyber landscape as well as pathways to standardizing cyber breach disclosure across government agencies and businesses of all sizes. Visit CISA.gov to learn more about CISA's mission and programs as well as the many professional opportunities to join one of today's most essential frontline cyber defense agencies. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e130