Tag Archive for: director

#mWISE: FBI Director Urges Greater Private-Public Collaboration

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“I’m here to recruit you.” Was Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, really joking when he said that hiring people for the FBI was the reason for his presence at the Mandiant mWISE conference?

During his opening keynote speech on September 18, Wray explained how collaborating with the private sector has changed the FBI’s approach to combating cybercrime.

He said that the 9/11 terrorist attacks led the Bureau to open itself more to other parties, first in its counter-terrorism missions and then in other areas, including cyberspace.

“Today, our strategy is informed by where we sit, at the center of a cyber ecosystem that stretches from the defensive side, with the private sector but also agencies like the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), all the way over to, on the offensive side, the CIA, the NSA and our foreign partners,” Wray added.

Over the past few years, the FBI has conducted several joint investigations and law enforcement operations in cyberspace, which encompass an increasing number of partners, including foreign cybersecurity agencies from ally countries and private organizations.

“The bottom line is: it doesn’t matter who gets the credit as long as the job gets done,” said Wray.

Recent law enforcement operations, such as the Hive ransomware or the QakBot malware loader takedowns, included partners like Zscaler, who helped with the investigation.

Victim Organizations Encouraged to Work with the FBI

However, the prime example of such public-private collaborations highlighted by the FBI director is the 2022 takedown of the Cyclops Blink botnet, allegedly built by the Russian military agency (GRU). 

This is because, this time, the private partner WatchGuard was directly involved in the malicious campaign.

Wray explained: “The GRU’s Sandworm team had managed to implant malware on thousands of WatchGuard firewall devices worldwide. Those firewalls were primarily used by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Our collaboration with WatchGuard allowed us to reverse-engineer the malware and develop and execute a sophisticated technical operation, severing GRU’s ability to communicate with the command-and-control…

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New Director Information Warfare set to hit the ground running

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Defence SA has appointed Dr Dave Ormrod as its inaugural Director Information Warfare. Commencing on 3 July, Dave is a leader in information warfare (IW) and cyber security with more than 25 years of industry experience.

Defence SA Chief Executive Richard Price said the newly created role will assist in ensuring South Australia is able to maximise opportunities across the key areas of intelligence surveillance reconnaissance and electronic warfare (ISREW), cyber and ICT for Defence and space.

“South Australia is the hub for Information Warfare and the state has significant high quality research depth with potential to capitalise on a range of opportunities under the AUKUS Pillar 2 agreement,” said Richard.

“Dave’s significant experience in the field will be an asset to the state in supporting a sustainable IW industry for South Australia.”

Dave’s perspective as a member of the IW community has been shaped by his experience serving in the Australian Defence Force, as well as working with defence industry, federal and state government, and the cyber security industry more broadly. Throughout his career, Dave has built high performing security teams, tailored cyber security solutions, and acted as a trusted advisor and collaborator to C-suite Executives. He has worked across Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“It is a great privilege to join the experienced Defence SA team and I appreciate the opportunity to support the development of an enduring, sustainable, and effective IW capability in South Australia,” Dave said.

“I’m excited to be returning to Adelaide. I have a strong desire to further South Australia’s defence industry capabilities, extending upon my career working with the Australian Defence Force, industry, academia and our allies.”

Dave has made the move to Adelaide from Canberra with his wife Amy, where his most recent role was as a Director in the McGrathNicol cyber security risk and strategy business.

In addition to his practical experience from the military and industry, Dave has a PhD in Computer Science and is a graduate of both the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Program and…

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Generative AI providing fuel for hackers, DISA Director Skinner says

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BALTIMORE — Generative artificial intelligence, software capable of carrying a convincing, human-like conversation or crafting content like computer code with little prompting, will make hackers more sophisticated, ultimately raising the bar for U.S. safeguards, according to the leader of the Defense Information Systems Agency.

Director Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner said the technology is one of the most disruptive developments he’s seen in a long time, and has serious security implications. A similar warning was issued by the National Security Agency’s cybersecurity boss, Rob Joyce, earlier this year.

“Those who harness that, and can understand how to best leverage it, but also how to best protect against it, are going to be the ones who have the high ground,” Skinner said May 2 at the AFCEA TechNet Cyber conference in Baltimore. “We in this room are thinking about how this applies to cybersecurity. How does it apply to intelligence? How does it apply to our warfighting capabilities?”

Generative AI in recent months was popularized by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which accrued more than 1 million users within a week of its launch. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, in March told ABC News he worries about how these models could be used for widespread disinformation and “could be used for offensive cyberattacks.”

US Air Force shifting hundreds of computer apps to the cloud

Skinner on Tuesday predicted generative AI would not be a significant tool for “high-end adversaries.” Rather, the tech “is going to help a whole bunch of other individuals get up to that level in a much faster manner.”

“So how do we have the protective systems, the security and the network capabilities to support protecting that data and support our folks?” he said.

The U.S. considers China and Russia top-tier threats in the virtual world. Other foes include Iran and North Korea, according to the Biden administration’s cybersecurity strategy, which promised the use of all instruments of national power to fend off cyber misbehavior.

Mastery of AI is thought key to enduring international competitiveness in defense, finance and other sectors. At least 685 AI projects, including several tied to major weapons…

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Crypto Prime Broker Floating Point Group Appoints Chris Hazelton as Director of Marketing

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As the first marketing hire, the addition sets a foundation with strong crypto and cybersecurity marketing experience

HOBOKEN, N.J., Sept. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Floating Point Group (FPG), a cryptocurrency prime brokerage with an institutional trading desk and settlement platform announced that Chris Hazelton has joined as Director of Marketing.

Hazelton has more than fifteen years of experience in marketing and market research, the last seven of which he spent leading product marketing for crypto and cybersecurity services. He built and led marketing teams for custody technology provider Fireblocks, mobile security pioneer Lookout, as well as BlackBerry’s $400m enterprise software division. His experience also includes 10 years as an industry analyst with S&P Market Intelligence and IDC Research.

As Director of Marketing Hazelton will drive FPG’s brand-building and market leadership across demand generation, content, PR, social, and product marketing. As well as championing customers scaling their crypto businesses with FlowVault.

“Blockchain and cryptocurrency companies are remarkably unsuccessful as a cohort in communicating what they do,” said Kevin March, Co-Founder of Floating Point Group. “Chris’s experience as a marketing leader at several exceptional businesses will help us refine our message to an institutional audience that’s overwhelmed with new information and show tangible examples of how we’ve helped customers like them scale successfully in crypto.”

FPG aims to be a pillar of unrivaled access to cryptocurrency for institutions interested in the value digital assets hold. Hazelton will use his crypto marketing experience, which includes launching the first permissioned DeFi pool and first Web3 development platform, to work directly with FPG’s co-founders to build a roadmap to empower the next wave of institutional adoption.

About Floating Point Group

Floating Point Group is a crypto prime brokerage platform and agency trading desk for asset managers that removes the barriers and complications to access liquidity across a broad set of markets in order to deploy advanced cryptocurrency-centric strategies at scale. The company carries insurance for custodied…

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