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Easterly got his start discussing one of the most difficult threats the United States faces, not in a trial before a political audience in Washington, but directly to the cybersecurity community, wearing a “Free” shirt. Britney “partially covered and introducing politics with dance moves, music and a reference to the longtime sitcom” Seinfeld. ”
This unlikely combination reflects both the deep experience and sense of purpose Easterly brings to the job, as well as the creativity she hopes to foster as Homeland Security’s second cybersecurity chief. In an interview with CNN after his remarks, Easterly spoke of the need to “think very differently about all the creative ways to create a very diverse cybersecurity workforce and cybersecurity workforce.”
This can be by encouraging people to consider that if they are good at puzzles, they can make a career in his agency. “They might not even know they have a real aptitude for things like cyber,” Easterly said in the interview, referring to her efforts at the Black Hat Cyber Security Conference to address more personal causes. .
Speaking virtually to the Black Hat conference, which offers security advice, training and briefings to hackers, businesses and government agencies, she told the audience that the CISA must be more “ambitious” when it comes to strengthening the cybersecurity workforce in the US and federal governments.
She called on the cybersecurity community to help strengthen the country’s IT workforce, highlighting the more than 500,000 unfilled cybersecurity positions in the United States.
“Much more ambitious”
Easterly, who took over as head of the agency in mid-July, said CISA is already undertaking multiple efforts, including a retraining program for federal non-cybersecurity professionals and a K-12 program that offers cybersecurity programs for teachers.
Despite a plethora of programs aimed at developing cybersecurity talent, she said, “I think we need to be much, much more ambitious about this and innovative in figuring out how to inform and educate and really inspire the next generation of people. cybersecurity professionals since the youngest. des ages “, offering a glimpse of her thinking as a director.
She also urged people to come and work for CISA – an agency housed within the Department of Homeland Security that was established under the Trump administration. During her speech, she provided a QR code for people to join “the CISA team”.
“My goal is to make CISA the world’s leading cyber defense and infrastructure agency,” she said.
Easterly is pushing as a new Senate report released Tuesday found that key federal government agencies continue to violate basic cybersecurity standards, with systematic failures to protect data.
Pressed by Black Hat founder Jeff Moss on whether she will succeed in hiring the right talent, she said, “I’m going to focus relentlessly on this.”
“If I don’t, it won’t be for lack of effort. The government hiring process is Byzantine and really messy,” Easterly said, acknowledging that there is “huge competition” from the side. the private sector when it comes to recruiting talent.
Putting the announcement on music referencing the rock band “AC / DC”, Easterly also unveiled a new effort to speed up cyber defense planning within the agency called “Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative” or ” JCDC “, which will coordinate planning and operations. between the federal government, local authorities and private companies.
She made the virtual announcement while dancing to the so called “Elaine dance” from “Seinfeld”.
The collaboration will initially focus on tackling ransomware and cloud provider incidents with companies such as Crowdstrike, Palo Alto, FireEye, Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen.
And after Easterly’s remarks to Black Hat, she said other companies have expressed interest in signing up.
“Having spent the past four and a half years in the private sector, I am a firm believer in the power of innovation that comes from our private sector,” Easterly told CNN after his speech. “And you know, even after my opening speech, we had several more who wanted to join in, so I think people see that as something materially different and exciting.”
“Strong encryption”
In prepared remarks, Easterly said the goal is for government and the private sector to work closely “before an incident occurs to strengthen the connective tissue and ensure a common understanding of the processes.”
Easterly said she was in the hands of the President and the White House, but added, “I’m very concerned about the use of cyber to have consequences that can lead to kinetic warfare. And you know, frankly my role as the director of CISA is to do whatever i can to help make sure that doesn’t happen by making sure everyone has what it takes to prevent, to ensure the resilience and security of their networks. “
Easterly has also appeared to lash out at those in the US government, such as law enforcement, who have called for the weakening of digital encryption in order to scrutinize the otherwise scrambled communications of terrorists and criminals. Encryption critics have said the technology – which protects all businesses and consumers – can allow bad actors to “go extinct.”
Asked to weigh in on the matter, Easterly spoke forcefully in favor of “strong encryption,” a term commonly used to refer to encryption that does not allow secret access “through the back door” to the forces of the ‘order. Critics of law enforcement said allowing backdoors in encryption would create vulnerabilities that would be targeted by hackers and put everyone’s safety at risk.
“We need to have strong encryption to be able to defend our networks. This is fundamental, as everyone in this audience knows,” Easterly said, in a response that drew a rare round of applause. “I recognize that there are other views within government, but I think as the director of CISA and I personally think strong encryption is absolutely fundamental for us to do this. that we have to do. “
Easterly, who is only the second Senate-confirmed CISA director, was part of the team that built the US Cyber Command before working at the National Security Agency on cyber and counter issues. -terrorism and to become senior director of counterterrorism in former President Barack Obama. National Security Council.
She was scheduled to appear in person in Black Hat, along with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, but the DHS team decided to participate virtually “out of caution”, due to the latest concerns related to Covid-19, one said. DHS spokesperson. CNN.
Asked at the conference how she will differentiate herself from CISA’s first director, Chris Krebs, Easterly said she will focus on having the right processes in place to be able to bring CISA into our next five and ten years.
Easterly told CNN that it might not be called “rumor control” in the future, but CISA will continue its mission of combating misinformation and disinformation.
“We are working with election officials from all parties, and we must be seen as supporting them and supporting the security of their elections, and not as doing anything that could be interpreted as partisan,” she said. , adding that she is still thinking about how to solve the problems.
“I think there’s the founder, right. And then there’s the next CEO who comes in and transforms, continuing the transformation of the organization,” Easterly said.
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