In Focus: Cybersecurity priorities and cultivating talent

During the far-ranging discussion, Ron Carback commented on the issues associated with not sharing information.  If all agencies act as silos of information, we will see duplicated efforts across civilian and military agencies.  This has many implications, including threats not being handled on a timely basis, the extra cost, and wasted talented when it comes to rebuilding.

Ron also talked about some of the limitations of budgeting in the federal world.  Reform is needed in the endless annual cycles of acquisition.  Everyone will be going through a drastic four-year cycle that can leave gaps in protection and can also force systems to lack coherence.

Host

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.

Guest

Ron Carback, Defense Intelligence Officer for Cyber, Defense Intelligence Agency

Mr. Carback is on a joint duty assignment as the Defense Intelligence Officer for Cyber at the Defense Intelligence Agency.  An employee of NSA, Mr. Carback has served in a variety of leadership positions across operational and technical areas and has been engaged in significant collaboration for NSA across the Intelligence Community and with foreign partners.  He has served overseas in the United Kingdom as well as in Baghdad, Iraq, where he supported both warfighters and policymakers.  He chaired the National SIGINT Committee in Washington DC, supporting both the Director of National Intelligence and the Director NSA.  Prior to his current assignment, he served as Deputy Director of Intelligence (J2) at United States Cyber Command.