The discussion began with an analogy to protecting agencies with strong walls. Each panelist commented on the weakness of focusing solely on endpoint security. When dealing with an insider threat, the size of the wall is not an issue. Encryption may not even be the solution because the insiders may have the encryption keys. The panelists opined on a variety of terms including “breach,” “hack,” and “cyber intrusion.”

The cybersecurity experts then included the role of automation in the discussion. Several examples were given where an automatic response of a threat was appropriate, but there was a much more nuanced response. This is because each threat varies and a patterned response could lead to unintended consequences.

Finally, the panelists gave opinions on the amount of data that has to be analyzed and the approach that can be used to understand that amount. The difficulty is that no analyst can possibly be expected to understand the amount of information thrown at them every day. If machines are producing that much information then, perhaps, the solution is in machines being able to interpret what the data means.

Moderator

John Gilroy, Host of Federal Tech Talk, Federal News Radio

John Gilroy has been a member of the Washington D.C. technology community for over twenty years. In 2007 he began weekly interviews on Federal News Radio called “Federal Tech Talk with John Gilroy.”   His 428 interviews provides the basis for profitable referral business. In 2009 he created a successful breakfast club of previous radio guests called The Technology Leadership Roundtable. He has been instrumental in two of his guests forming their own radio shows:  Derrick Dortch with “Fed Access” and Aileen Black and Gigi Schumm with “Women in Washington.”

In 2011 he began teaching a course in social media marketing at Georgetown University; in March of 2014, John won the Tropaia Award for Outstanding Faculty.  John conducts monthly corporate training for large companies on how to leverage social media to generate revenue.

Panelists

Kerry Long, Program Manager, IARPA, Office of Director of National Intelligence.

Kerry Long is a Program Manager for the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), where he specializes in discovering and developing novel methods for securing the computational environments of users, especially user environments in the cloud.  Immediately prior to his assignment at IARPA, he served as a Principal Cyber Security Engineer with MITRE’s Cyber Security Technical Center supporting DOD and IC clients.  Mr. Long has also served as a Computer Scientist for the Army Research Laboratory and an Information Systems Security Engineer for NSA.  He began his career in “Cyber” as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy.

Deborah Pierre-Louis, Director, Policy, Liaison and Training Oversight Office, Directorate of the Deputy CIO for Information Assurance & Chief Information Security Officer, U.S. Department of State

Ms. Pierre-Louis has over 20 years of combined military and federal service
in developing strategies linking the existing organizational culture to
modern technology that directly led to better outcomes. She is currently
serving as the Office Director for Policy, Liaison and Training at the US
Department of State.

Melinda Rogers, Chief Information Security Officer, Department of Justice

Melinda Rogers is Chief Information Security Officer at the Department of Justice. In this role she leads a team of cybersecurity specialists providing services across DOJ to include: continuous monitoring and diagnostics, security operations and incident response, security architecture, and identity and access management solutions. Additionally, she works across the Federal Government on security matters, coordinating efforts in influencing policy, addressing threats, and establishing capabilities. Prior to DOJ, Melinda served as an Assistant Vice President for Equifax’s Fraud Prevention and Identity Verification Solutions, and held management positions at Procter & Gamble and NationsBank. She holds an MBA from Emory University and a Bachelor’s in Economics from George Mason University.

Tim Estes, Founder & CEO, Digital Reasoning

Tim Estes is the CEO and founder of Digital Reasoning, a leader in trusted cognitive computing. Driven by the belief that all software would learn and that all people should have access to it, Tim and his team at Digital Reasoning work closely with leaders in government and industry to solve extraordinarily valuable and morally compelling problems in National Security, Finance, Health Care, and other markets by automating the understanding of human communication.

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.