The Rising Cyberthreats in Government

2015 was known as “The Year of Cybersecurity Incidents.” However, this isn’t much different from what we saw in 2014, and 2013 and 2012. It’s just getti...


2015 was known as “The Year of Cybersecurity Incidents.” However, this isn’t much different from what we saw in 2014, and 2013 and 2012. It’s just getting worse. Each time the public is exposed to a “massive breach,” it is bigger and more destructive than the last.

For government entities and their CISOs and CIOs who are often held accountable, breaches are damaging and controversial as trust is eroded and difficult to regain. Breaches aren’t just devastating to the integrity of the institution, but possibly damaging to the citizens that government is pledged to serve.  While information integrity and data privacy are critical issues, the notion that a perpetrator can plan an attack that significantly disrupts government operations and creates vulnerabilities is indeed real.

A NEW APPROACH: IDENTITY-BASED MICRO-SEGMENTATION: There is a better way to approach security. Micro-segmentation takes on the mission of the old-style segmentation, but with an entirely new approach that allows enterprises to quickly and easily divide physical networks into thousands of logical micro-segments. Even if adversaries infiltrate one micro-segment, they would not be able to move across to other parts of the organization’s environment.

This discussion covers:

  • Despite billions of dollars invested in cybersecurity, occurrences of data breaches are on the rise and are bigger and more destructive than the last one.
  • The internet of things (IoT), mobility, analytics and new digital channels continue to add more complexity and more risk along the path toward securing government enterprises.
  • Enterprises are challenged with securing data and assets within an IT ecosystem that extends well beyond their agency walls.
  • Micro-segmentation is a new security approach for government. It offers a simple way to take back control of an enterprise network without having to deal with firewall rules, outdated applications, remote users, cloud-based services, and third parties that all have become attack vectors in today’s world.
  • National Security Agency designation authorizes U.S. Government Agencies to purchase Unisys Stealth to protect classified systems.

Host:

 Tom Temin, Federal News Radio

Tom Temin is the host of Federal Drive, airing weekdays from 6-9 a.m. on Federal News Radio 1500AM. Tom Temin has 30 years’ experience in journalism, mostly in technology markets. He was a long-serving editor-in-chief of Government Computer News and Washington Technology magazines, both of which were regular winners of national reporting awards. Before joining Federal News Radio, Tom wrote (and continues to write) a column on government IT and acquisition topics. He was a regular guest on Federal News Radio before joining the team.

Guests:

Jennifer Napper

Jennifer Napper, Group Vice President of Department of Defense and Intelligence Agencies, Unisys Federal

Jennifer Napper is the group Vice President of Department of Defense and Intelligence agencies at Unisys Federal. In this role, Jennifer will lead all account management, solution delivery and business-growth activities for the Unisys organization serving clients in the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and intelligence communities.

Jennifer joined Unisys from L-3 Communications, having most recently served as vice president and deputy general manager, Defense Solutions. Prior to L-3 Communications, Jennifer was director of Policy, Plans and Partnerships for the U.S. DoD Cyber Command after serving as commander of the Army’s Network Enterprise Technology Command. She has extensive experience in cybersecurity. While serving as commander of the Army’s 7th Signal Command, she established and enforced standardized information assurance polices and instituted a new security architecture for 700,000 devices on 37 Army installations throughout the U.S.

Jennifer retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of Major General after 30 years of distinguished service. During her career, she successfully led large, diverse organizations with responsibility for planning, engineering, operating, maintaining and securing regional and global IT and communications networks.

Jennifer has received numerous military awards and decorations, culminating with the Distinguished Service Medal. In 2013 she was named to the Federal Computer Week “Federal 100,” an annual award recognizing those who have made significant contributions to federal government IT.

 

Tom Patterson

Tom Patterson, Chief Trust Officer, Unisys

Tom Patterson is the Chief Trust Officer (CTrO) at Unisys. As CTrO, Tom coordinates the cyber and physical security, privacy and governance for the company to earn trust, and communicates that trust to all stakeholders through transparency, advocacy, and community.

As part of this role, Tom also directs a global team including robust managed security, specialized consulting security, and advanced products in the micro segmentation and identity management spaces, helping clients deploy and operate the most appropriate security countermeasures for governments, companies, to include supporting cyber security for high-profile events such as Superbowl 50.

A proven security leader, Tom has been working for three decades on all facets of cyber security including: hardware, software, managed services, policy, privacy, threat mitigation, compliance, and governance. Initially trained by the intelligence community, he has been named a 2016 Top Thought Leader in Trust, delivered numerous keynote speeches, authored a well-reviewed book about international business security, and has regular broadcast appearances as a security expert.

While maintaining a Top Secret security clearance with the Government, Tom has advised the FBI, United States Secret Service, and NCIX on cyber issues and activities, and is working closely with the Fort Gordon Alliance to maximize the success of Cyber Command and related DoD and IC cyber activities. In addition to recently speaking at the FBI’s ICCS conference, Tom has keynoted the Counter Intelligence Joint Task Force annual meeting on cyber threats and the Department of Justice’s annual cyber security conference. Tom is a leading voice in Critical Infrastructure Protection, working with ISACs in Financial, Health, Energy, and has led large-scale security work in protection of energy, health, water, and financial companies. He currently advises Federal law enforcement on the latest threat and countermeasure activity in his field through his service on several classified Federal Government working groups.

Prior to his role of CTrO at Unisys, Tom served as a Chief Security Officer (CSO) twice in the Financial and High Tech sectors; testified to the U.S. Congress on security; briefed the FDIC, NCIX and US Secret Service on the latest in fraud countermeasures; and briefed the White House on critical infrastructure protection. Throughout his career, Tom has worked on security for a space shuttle launch (STS-37), a United Way telethon (9/11), and the launch of an aircraft carrier (CVN73), as well as developing security architectures for the use of mobile and cloud services in the payment ecosystem. He has also developed mobile security architectures and cloud security transitions for Fortune 500 companies. Earlier Tom served as the CSO for the team that developed the Internet’s first directory search engine, secure browser, and certificate authority, and has served in executive security roles for KPMG, Deloitte, and IBM.

Tom is based in Unisys’ California office, and travels frequently on behalf of Unisys and our clients around the world. A television drama based on his activities is currently under development in Hollywood for the fall season. Tom is a frequent guest security expert in the media including CNBC, CNN, and Fox News. He blogs frequently on www.TomTalks.com as well as https://twitter.com/tomtalks

 

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