Cyber Security Webinar Series
Week 1 - Security Threats and Risks
Threats to computers and information systems continue to grow with new threat vectors emerging with amazing regularity. In this webinar we focus on discussing existing and emerging threats to information systems as well as key defense measures that can be instituted as a first level of defense. The threats focus on the needs of the defense industry, including, theft of highly sensitive data, hardware trojans, and loss of control over critical systems.
Week 2 - Managing Risks and Complying with DFARS
To protect public confidential public data as well as national security, the federal government has promulgated several regulations. The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) is a set of cybersecurity regulations that the Department of Defense (DoD) imposes on external contractors and suppliers. In the first part of the webinar we discuss the basic elements of risk analysis and how assets, threats, vulnerabilities, and controls. In the second part of the talk we discuss the key elements of the DFARS standards from NIST and what organizations need to do to comply with them.
Week 3 - Human Vulnerabilities and Insider Threats
A major threat to security today is humans who use these systems who through a combination of apathy, inadvertent mistakes, and deliberate malicious behavior cause security breaches. This webinar is aimed and discussing some of the threats emerging from human vulnerabilities i.e. phishing, system misconfiguration, and data theft. The talk discusses the psychological imperatives that drive such behavior as well as how to best manage human vulnerabilities.
Week 4 - IoT Threats
The three mega engineering innovations for the next decade are based on sensors and communication i.e. autonomous vehicles, implantable medical devices, and the smart grid. A lot of the new threats for the next decade will stem from these engineering systems. Unlike the current threats, these threats can cause harm to life and property. The first part of this talk will discuss the threats in this space and the second part of the talk will discuss the controls in place for mitigating these threats.
Week 5 - Misinformation and Disinformation: New Threat to National Security
We are all affected by disinformation and have a hard time deciding what is true and what is not. Such disinformation undermines truest in information making it hard for people to make decisions and judgment. In democratic societies that rely on fair elections, such disinformation can bias people’s judgement on issues influencing the fairness of elections. This talk discusses how misinformation campaigns have been used around the world to influence public education and how we must counter this information.
Week 6 - International Cyber Conflicts
Cyber has become the next domain of international conflicts where each country is investing heavily in cyber weapons. The lack of visibility of cyber capability of other countries is forcing a cyber arms race where each nation is continuing to buff their cyber arsenal fearing the worse from other countries. This talk discusses the geopolitical risks that stem from attacks from other nation states and their proxies and how this will shape in the future. We also discuss how such incidents are being managed and attributed as well as the role of international forums like UN and OSCE in managing the cyber threats.