GovCon Wire Events hosted its Cybersecurity in National Security Summit on Tuesday to provide a platform for the members of the federal government, industry and the government contracting (GovCon) community to discuss the major initiatives bolstering the DOD’s cybersecurity as well as the opportunities for private industry to support the federal government’s cybersecurity objectives.
Puesh Kumar of the Department of Energy (DOE) and CISA Director Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner were featured as the keynote speakers for GovCon Wire Events’ latest Summit along with two full expert panels to address the importance of information technology and digital transformation for federal organizations as they work to stay ahead of innovation.
Following an introduction by Garrettson Blight, director of DarkLabs for Booz Allen Hamilton, who acted as the keynote introducer and moderator, Puesh Kumar led off the Summit with his opening remarks about the work DOE is doing in cybersecurity.
As Kumar set the stage for the virtual audience in attendance, he provided a look into his role as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (Acting) Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response as well as his expertise in the summit’s core topics of the day.
“The purpose of what we do at DOE is focused on ensuring that the energy supply that millions of Americans rely on every day isn’t disrupted by any threat or hazard against our department,” Kumar explained.
He continued to elaborate on how DOE quickly and efficiently works to maintain the absolutely critical resources, such as water, communications or even financial services, to the Department of Defense to support their national security missions.
Kumar spent the rest of his keynote address breaking down the threats we’re facing in the federal government at the highest level, an overview of the full threat landscape, how the department has worked with industry and government partners to mitigate potential cyber threats and more.
Check out GovConWire Events to hear the full keynote address from DOE’s Puesh Kumar and watch the full Cybersecurity in National Security Summit on-demand.
After Puesh Kumar’s keynote address, GovCon Wire Events featured two expert panels to give the virtual audience a deep look and greater understanding of the work being done in cyber threat intelligence as well as the work that chief information security officers are engaging in for the Department of Defense and the challenges they face to maintain U.S. national security standards.
Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, director of Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), provided the closing keynote for the virtual audience to share his insight and expertise from within DISA to deal with the multitude of cyber vulnerabilities that is against our national security system.
Lt. Gen. Skinner emphasized the warning that all speakers reiterated earlier in the Summit that the environment is moving at an incredible rate, especially with the current rate of cyber attacks from a global standpoint as U.S. adversaries work to lead in cyber dominance for the future.
He shared the top priorities from DISA’s vantage point that included modernizing command and control of the 21st-century battlefield to best connect and protect our warfighters in cyberspace and gain them as much information to use as possible to build an advantage over adversaries.
“The prior defense-in-depth security model has been outdated for quite some time now,” Lt. Gen. Skinner explained. “We’re moving more capabilities from inside the perimeter to the cloud, not just data but services as well outside of the standard data centers. This new model has to account for accelerated demand for mobile solutions, including mobile solutions at the classified level.”
Check out GovConWire Events to hear the full keynote address from DISA Director Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner and watch the full Cybersecurity in National Security Summit on-demand.
On Thursday, October 7th, GovCon Wire Events will host its AI: Innovation in Homeland Security Forum to discuss the current and developing role that artificial intelligence is playing in homeland security as well as workforce integration and risk mitigation.
John Cohen, acting undersecretary and chief intelligence officer of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, and Melissa Smislova of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will serve as keynote speakers to discuss the goals, priorities and strategy, intelligence and analysis mission priorities related to DHS’ work with AI and how industry can help accelerate AI innovation.
Visit GovConWireEvents.com to register for the platform’s AI: Innovation in Homeland Security Forum on Oct. 7th.
