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RE: WIRED 2021: Jen Easterly wants hackers to help US Cyber ​​Defense

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This is Easterly two he did his job. As the second director of the U.S. Government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), he faces a historic attack. ransomwarea attacks and misinformation campaigns. Eastern he is a different kind of bureaucrat, however. He showed so much more Black Hat a cybersecurity conference in August, where he presented new policy initiatives at an AC / DC-sponsored dance wearing a “Free Britney” shirt and dragon jeans.

His style, however, is not due to lack of experience. He had previously served in a retired Army officer National Security Agency and helped him Department of Defense set up its cyberspace operations. He also served as a special aide to President Obama in the fight against terrorism, before migrating to the banking sector, where he led cybersecurity at Morgan Stanley.

In conversation with Garrett Graff, assistant editor of WIRED RE: WIRING ceremony on Wednesday, Easterly underwent a major change cybersecurity Douglas Adams to the Dirk Gently paradigm, where “everything is connected, everything is interdependent”. This interconnectivity is the product of our digitalized world. “So the attack surface has grown, and the volume, variety, and speed of the data have grown exponentially.” The result: there is one cyberattack Every 40 seconds and one in 10 billion websites on the Internet takes you to malware. “So the big thing that’s changed is that cybersecurity has become a kitchen table problem.”

At CISA, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, Easterly must move from the offensive role it played in the Army, the NSA, and the intelligence community to its defense. He says his past experience helps him understand how his rivals work and at the same time develops a sense of empathy for them. “You have to have the empathy of your opponent,” he explains, “to really understand how your opponent works, through the tactics, techniques, and procedures he uses, to be the best defense you can have.”

To put up the best defense, Easterly will need to increase the size of the newest U.S. government department. That’s why he went to Black Hat and Defcon to get in touch with the private hacker community. “That’s my community, man,” he said. “We want to turn on the power of hackers and researchers and academics, because ultimately the world is full of vulnerabilities, and I think the attack is dominating the defense. So I want to make sure that we are using the brilliance and goodness of these communities to help identify and close these vulnerabilities. So please join us and bring it. ”

Of all the technology involved, Easterly says the hardest part is “changing people and human behavior and how people work and laying the groundwork for cyber hygiene through authentication, patches, and software upgrades.” 90 percent of the vulnerabilities exploited for ransomware attacks, he said, have patches associated with them. So many of us are failing at the basics of cybersecurity.

However, he is optimistic about the way our government will move forward. “I am optimistic, but I am more optimistic than ever about how we can work together, in government, as a team sport and as a trusted partner in the private sector.” Through this partnership, he hopes to “create a common picture of the operational environment” so that we can “plan and implement it in times of peace so that we can be willing to work together in times of war.”

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