LookingGlass’s Chief Cyber Officer, Norm Laudermilch, shared his knowledge and expertise on AI & emerging tech and how agencies can continue to better protect themselves against modern security threats at CyberWeek 2021.
This Q&A was conducted as part of the 2021 CyberWeek. Norm Laudermilch, Chief Cyber Officer of LookingGlass was interviewed by Wyatt Kash, SVP, Content Strategy, Scoop News Group. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity).
KASH: YOU’VE HELD SEVERAL CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER ROLE’S IN THE PAST, WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER THE MOST PRESSING CHALLENGE FOR SOMEONE IN THAT ROLE TODAY?
Laudermilch: Without a doubt, the most pressing challenge for someone in this role or a similar role is having the ability to gain full visibility and having a fully comprehensive understanding of your attack surface and how your suppliers fit into that risk picture too.
As a former CISO, visibility was a key problem that we had to solve because visibility has to span physical and cloud environments and third parties as well. It’s a much bigger problem than people typically think.
KASH: IS THERE A SPECIFIC EMERGING TECHNOLOGY IN A.I. THAT YOU BELIEVE WILL BE A TRUE GAME-CHANGER FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND HOW LIKELY IS THAT TECHNOLOGY TO BE ADOPTED IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?
Laudermilch: The good news is the technologies are in fact being adopted now. In my opinion, the game changers are;
- The summarization of large data sets
- Making relationship connections that would be differnet for humans to do
- Anomaly detection across massive data sets
- Event prediction
We’re living in this security, data world now so by using tools like LookingGlass’s unique collection of data and our massive data platform, we can start to get a better sense of how to predict what comes next.
KASH: HOW DO YOU SEE THE PUBLIC SECTOR ADAPTING TO THE INCREASING DEMANDS TO IMPLEMENT A ZERO-TRUST FRAMEWORK AND WHAT SHOULD GOVERNMENT AGENCIES BE ASKING OF THEMSELVES NOW?
Laudermilch: The truth is, everyone is moving to this way of doing business and everybody needs to get ready for a zero-trust framework, and here are what I think are the essential steps.
- Asses your organization. Map your attack surface, get a good understanding of it and assess how adversaries attack profiles map to the controls you have in place.
- Define your assets. With this massive data environment we’re living in these days, it’s so easy for this to get out of control and for companies and government agencies to lose of where their critical assets are. Everyone needs to understand where those crown jewels are and understand the transaction flows around those assets.
- Instrument, monitor and measure.
Be sure to watch the entire interview to hear more from Norm and his insights on A.I. are emerging tech. If you’re interested in learning more about how LookingGlass can help your cyber team prepare for future security issues and leverage emerging technologies to supercharge your defenses, contact us today.
