Rick Driggers is deputy chief of operations at Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center – the NCIC.

He explains the NCIC leads nationwide efforts to detect, prevent, respond to and recover from cyber attacks, following procedures in the national response plan.

Driggers says that just a few months ago, “we fully integrated all of our hunt and response capabilities into one organization within the NCIC.” Since then, that organization has responded to 23 incidents.

Among the new NCIC initiatives, Driggers says, is getting more in tune with the intelligence community to expand both sides’ view of the threat landscape. Plus, NCIC is working more closely with private sector IT security firms.

“The most important piece of the NCIC and what we do is our partnerships,” Driggers says. That include other federal agencies, state and local governments and the private sector. He notes, some 500 organizations take advantage of the NCIC’s cyber hygiene, IP scanning program.

Host

Tom Temin

Tom Temin has been reporting on and providing insight to technology markets for more than 30 years.  Tom was a long-serving editor-in-chief of Government Computer News and Washington Technology magazines. Tom also contributes a regular column on government information technology.

Guest

Rick Driggers, Deputy Chief of Operations, National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, DHS

Rick Driggers is the Principal Deputy Director for Operations for the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He joined DHS in 2003, serving in a variety of roles. Of note, he was the Chief Technology Officer for the National Protection and Programs (NPPD). Additionally, he supported the President’s National Security Council as the Director for Data and Systems Integration Policy and was the lead developing the Climate Resilience Toolkit for the Executive Office of the President. Before being appointed to the Senior Executive Service, Rick held multiple senior management positions within NPPD and the Office of Intelligence and Analysis.

A former United States Air Force Combat Controller, Rick deployed as a member of many U.S military and international Special Operations Forces operational and tactical teams conducting high risk mission in austere environments. He holds a B.S. in Applied Science and Technology and is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Senior Executive Fellows Program.

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