Karen Evans, national director for the US Cyber Challenge and former administrator for e-Gov at the Office of Management and Budget, sat down with the Women of Washington radio show to discuss cybersecurity and her role with the US Cyber Challenge.

“The threat is really expanding,” Evans said. “The capabilities of the adversary have increased tenfold.”

Evans also said that the intelligence agencies really need to change their mindset to one of “roles and controls,” instead of the “model of the perimeter” that she believes is “outdated.”

Evans explained to Women of Washington hosts Aileen Black and Gigi Schumm how the US Cyber Challenge is changing the face of cybersecurity in the federal government.

“The mission of the US Cyber Challenge is really to find 10,000 people…to really get on track for cybersecurity. What we really want to do is to meet the goals and reduce the risk for the nation going forward, and really try to expand out the workforce so that we have a skilled workforce in cybersecurity.”

Evans discussed her success with effecting change within a government system during a crisis such as September 11th and gave advice to current administrators.

“If you know the rules, you know how far you can go out to the rule, and use the rule to get done what you want to get done,” she said. “The process isn’t going to change. You have to figure out where the gap is and close the gap.”

Also in this interview, Evans talks about how her father pushed her to achieve from a young age, which eventually led to a degree in chemistry, and how she hopes we all can encourage more girls to get involved in STEM from the ground up.

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