RSA’s Tran: Agencies must speed up the detection-response cycle

Federal Insights

RSA’s Tran: Agencies must speed up the detection-response cycle

Peter Tran, the general manager and senior director for worldwide advanced cyber defense practice at RSA, takes what he calls an edgier view of cybersecurity than...

Tom Temin@tteminWFED

July 7, 2017 3:34 pm

3 min read

Peter Tran, the general manager and senior director for worldwide advanced cyber defense practice at RSA, takes what he calls an edgier view of cybersecurity than the average cat.

He worries about a phenomenon occurring in both government and in the private sector. Tran has dubbed it “security arrested decay.”

It stems from the fact that often, the IT infrastructures into which agencies have invested so much are aging. They still function. But when the pressure is on to detect and thwart cyber attacks, the age begins to show.

Specifically, Tran says, agencies tend to monitor their infrastructure in a way that reflects the deliberative procurement process under which the government operates. That’s in contradiction to the speed at which new cyber threats – and the tools to take them on – emerge. He says it’s important to bridge the security information and event management (SEIM) model so it can better support the velocity required to respond to the latest threats.

Host

Tom Temin, Federal News Radio

Tom Temin has been the host of the Federal Drive since 2006. Tom has been reporting on and providing insight to technology markets for more than 30 years. Prior to joining Federal News Radio, 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

Peter Tran, General Manager and Senior Director, Worldwide Advanced Cyber Defense Practice, RSA

Peter M. Tran is the GM & Senior Director for RSA’s Worldwide Advanced Cyber Defense (ACD) Practice. He is responsible for global cyber defense strategy, security operations design, implementation, intelligence and proactive computer network defense solutions and services. Prior to RSA, Peter led Raytheon’s commercial cyber professional services and solutions business as well as its global enterprise security operations and cyber threat programs for intelligence, APT threat analysis, technical operations, exploitation analysis, adversary attack methodologies research and tools development. He possesses over 18 years of combined government, commercial and research experience in the field of computer network forensics, exploitation analysis and operations . He is a Six Sigma Qualified Specialist and holds numerous technical certification to include the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Paraben’s Handheld Device/GPS Signals Examination and the SANS Institute GIAC Reverse Engineering Malicious Code Certification.

He has held senior technical leadership roles with Northrop Grumman and Booz Allen Hamilton supporting various Department of Defense (DoD) Intelligence agencies as well as commercial enterprises. Peter is a recognized expert within the commercial and public sector industries on technical matters relating to computer forensics, malicious code, foreign counterintelligence, technology transfer, network security and cyber espionage. Peter has authored several periodicals and journals published for his field work involving advanced cyber threat analytics, distributed computer forensics and biometric technology applications. His research and technical experience is applied to predictive threat analysis, automated comparative forensics and applied data analytics technology. Peter has defended some of the top commercial brands and public organizations and is a subject matter expert frequently appearing on Fox News, Fox Business, NBC, CBS, Reuters TV, SkyNews, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, LA Times, USA Today, Fast Company and The Harvard Business Review.

He holds a BA from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a Master of Forensic Sciences from the George Washington University and is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Program in Cyber Security Technology/Policy, MIT Sloan School of Management Executive Programs in Strategy and Innovation, Technology Operations and Value Chain Management.

Peter is also a graduate of the FBI Cyber Training Program, the U.S. Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and the John E. Reid Technique ® for interview and interrogation.

His professional experience includes work as a Federal Law Enforcement Special Agent, forensic analyst, systems/security engineer, software product designer, consultant in both technology prototyping/production and as an early stage venture mentor/advisor.