To The Point - Cybersecurity

This week we catch up with Lisa Donnan, Partner at Option3 Ventures to discuss the world of cyber venture capital and private equity and the importance of disruptive technology and commercialization for breaking through the white noise of the more than 3,500 cyber start-ups today. And she shares insights on why the SMB market is a $50B opportunity for cyber, why the U.S. needs a cyber moonshot to catch up, the criticality of security by design and why Cyberspace Solarium Commission is a good start but, ultimately, as we consider public/private partnerships' success ahead who carries the stick for actions, accountability and milestones? And, Eric recommends his favorite book of the week "Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know" by Adam Grant. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e129

This week we sit down with Charlene Mowery, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Red Hat who shares insights and lessons learned on leadership and moving forward seemingly impossible and incredibly complex multi-stakeholder initiatives to success, such as the Ford Island Master Development Agreement. She also dives into the impact of DevSecOps in recent years, the software supply chain, importance of a cloud-first mentality, hybrid cloud and shared responsibility models, and how the Cyberspace Solarium Commission is helping bring forward the criticality of speed and agility in cybersecurity today. And, she shares her perspective on encouraging the next generation of STEM talent and why they should "Be Bold". For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e128

The next two weeks we catch up with SC Media Editor-in-Chief Jill Aitoro for a two-part discussion on the latest hot cybersecurity news drivers such as the continuing Microsoft Exchange hacker feeding frenzy and continuing discoveries from the SolarWinds supply chain attack. Both of which raise more questions than answers in how we collectively solve for these security challenges including pathways such as legal requirements for notifications, who do you notify and who is notified first, security ratings systems for software suppliers and businesses and managing such a system on a global scale across organizations small and large. We also explore the role of superadmins and where the line of offensive strategies against nation-state attackers should be drawn for enterprises. And in celebration of March 2021 as Women's History Month, we discuss the path forward for enabling future female business leaders in security and the power of mentoring and advocacy for the up and coming generation of diverse leaders and thinkers across the industry to solve what is admittedly one of the most significant challenges of the modern era – cybersecurity. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e127

The next two weeks we catch up with SC Media Editor-in-Chief Jill Aitoro for a two-part discussion on the latest hot cybersecurity news drivers such as the continuing Microsoft Exchange hacker feeding frenzy and continuing discoveries from the SolarWinds supply chain attack. Both of which raise more questions than answers in how we collectively solve for these security challenges including pathways such as legal requirements for notifications, who do you notify and who is notified first, security ratings systems for software suppliers and businesses and managing such a system on a global scale across organizations small and large. We also explore the role of superadmins and where the line of offensive strategies against nation-state attackers should be drawn for enterprises. And in celebration of March 2021 as Women's History Month, we discuss the path forward for enabling future female business leaders in security and the power of mentoring and advocacy for the up and coming generation of diverse leaders and thinkers across the industry to solve what is admittedly one of the most significant challenges of the modern era – cybersecurity. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e126

This week we catch up with Tom Kellermann, Head of Cybersecurity Strategy at VMWare to discuss the explosion in, and growing aggression of, cyber cartels and the differences in attack motives across nation-state attackers and the offer that just can't be refused by the "untouchables". We also dive into the little known mission of the U.S. Secret Service and mandate to investigate financial crimes dating back to the Civil War - and the tell signs that cyber financial attacks foreshadow for future government attack vectors. (Learn more by getting a copy of the upcoming "Modern Bank Heists" report.) We also also take a look at the cyber road ahead and moving away from a backward-looking prevention approach to one that is more of a clandestine cyber offense strategy akin to a SuperMax prison that takes an inside-out approach to security, while also considering how to turn the tables on cyber cartels through disinformation strategies. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e125

Hacker turned lawyer. Professor. Geologist. Policy influencer. Just a few words to describe this week's guest Evan Wolff, partner in Crowell & Moring's D.C. office and Co-Chair for the firm's Privacy and Cybersecurity Group. After a career spent in cyber risk management and helping organizations through more than 1,000 breaches, Evan shares why he is optimistic for the cyber path ahead as well as insights around collective defense, re-victimization of companies after a breach, the new administration's cyber focus, recent discussions on reporting and notification, efficiencies of a national data breach law, and the criticality of incident response plans. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e124

We pick up part two of our discussion with C2 Labs Co-Founder and CTO Travis Howerton looking at how the best laid plans start with the truth. And we explore the security path forward in a hyper-connected world where we move more heavily into IoT and everything is connected, dying air gaps and distributed VPNs, identity management as the new firewall, identifying clear lines of deterrence with nation-states particularly within no consequence environments, the continuing skills gap and the looming threat of quantum computing that the first one to solve will be the true winner in cyber ahead. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e123

The Picasso of Cyberattacks Has Only Just Begun – Part I Travis Howerton of C2 Labs joins the podcast for an insightful discussion on the global threat landscape through the lens of his more than 20+ years working on the front lines of national security with organizations such as National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Bechtel. In part one of our conversation Travis shares his thoughts on how the SolarWinds hack was the Picasso of modern cyberattacks, inherent challenges to identifying attacks when you can't trust the tools you're working with, understanding the shared responsibility model in cloud security, protecting data with a 20-30 year outlook and the nature of cyberlogical attacks where integrity is critical. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e122

In this episode we explore the intersection of cybersecurity and human behavior with returning guest, Dr. Margaret Cunningham, Principal Research Scientist for Human Behavior at Forcepoint X-Labs. For public and private sector organizations, cybersecurity has always been addressed as a technology-first challenge. However as cyber threats evolve, the lack of behavioral science becomes a growing issue in today's threat environment. We discuss the challenge of calculating and addressing risk, the importance of understanding human behavior vs. controlling it, and why most organizations fail to effectively measure and understand the true impact of cyber solutions. Additionally, we look at how the pandemic has created opportunities for expanding and diversifying the cyber workforce, and why it's critical for us to open the aperture of traditional security to include experts in fields such as human behavior. For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e121

Michael Daniel, President and CEO of the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) and former Special Assistant to President Obama and Cyber Coordinator on the National Security Council staff shares insights from his front row seat on the federal government cyber frontline from 2012 to 2017, perspective on the new Biden administration's cyber priorities, growing cyber threats and trends as a result of mass remote work during the pandemic, defining standard of care and cyber responsibilities for state/local governments and businesses ahead as well as the criticality of threat sharing among the cyber community that the CTA has been helping drive across the industry since 2014. You don't want to miss this enlightening discussion! For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://www.forcepoint.com/govpodcast/e120