CHARLES BROOKS ON CYBERSECURITY…AND SOCIAL MEDIA
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Charles (Chuck) Brooks serves as Vice President/Client Executive for DHS at Xerox. Chuck has served as the first Director of Legislative Affairs for the Science & Technology Directorate within the Department of Homeland Security, where he was responsible for advocacy for the Directorate with Capitol Hill. He has been an Adjunct Faculty Member at Johns Hopkins University, and has previously spent 6 years on Capital Hill as a Senior Advisor to the late Senator Arlen Specter where he covered national security, defense, foreign affairs, and technology issues. Chuck also served as President of Brooks Consulting International, leveraging extensive experience in executive management, government relations, and R&D in the public and private sectors
SOCIAL MEDIA is booming in the business community. The medium has become integral to marketing, sales, public relations, policy and strategy. The impact it has had on how we conduct business has become so transformational that the protocols are still evolving. Whether you are a veteran of digital communication, or a newbie to the world of instant and perpetual content sharing, there are some fundamental steps to follow on social media to make your presence more effective for you personally and/or for your company.
1) Join: as the analogy with playing the lottery states, “you cannot win if you don’t play.” There are a multitude of excellent social media forums to consider joining and playing in. The key ones from my personal perspective are: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google, Pinerest, and FedScoop because they all offer professional outlets to learn, participate, and contribute to discussions relating to my business and social interests. I particularly enjoy LinkedIn because of its business and public policy orientation.
2) Establish a Social Media Profile: It is important to create profiles on the various sites that are accurate, interesting, and representative of your core interests and capabilities. As the Founder of the Internet, Google’s Vint Cerf noted recently, on the Internet there is no such thing as privacy. Expect your profile to be seen and make sure it portrays the public face you desire. A good idea is to search prominent leader’s profiles in the areas of your business or professional interest to see how they word, format, and describe their passions.
3) Be Relevant: Social media is living media and it helps brand you and your company. Be aware of your audience’s interests and contemplate what they would like to see in terms of content. Joining topic specific groups of special interest to you is a great way to keep current on the issues of the day. It is also the perfect forum for sharing articles, comments and your own writings with like-minded members. Corporate and academic Alumni groups are really good venues to join and share accomplishments.
4) Be Polite, helpful, and Kind: There is no reason for name calling and being rude. Discussion of ideas in an open forum should be civil. Group moderators try to enforce parameters but sometimes hurtful comments slip in. If you want to be impactful on social media, be positive and compliment others when they share items that are of value. I am a big proponent of “liking” or endorsing people and content when it is meaningful. I also try to alert or refer people to jobs if I am in a position to help. All across social media there are many opportunities to assist for social good and to join and promote activities/groups that have charitable and philanthropic motives online.
5) Operations & Maintenance (O & M): It is useful to be organized and current and continually update your profile and add projects, job, published writings, and engagements. Many of the social media vehicles will keep you abreast of birthdays, job changes, and work anniversaries of to whom you are connected. It is a great way to stay abreast of what your network in doing and be a part of the social media fabric.
6) Find Me and Connect on LinkedIn and Twitter: Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/chuckbrooks/ or Twitter: @ChuckDBrooks
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-e-finch/cybersecurity-industry-in_2_b_4620232.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications
Charles ‘Chuck’ Brooks serves as Vice President/Client Executive for DHS at Xerox. Xerox has $22 B in annual revenues and serves clients in 160 countries. He recently served as Vice President for R & D at Rapiscan Systems specializing in CBRNE sensor technologies.
Chuck Brooks (Safe Cities Influencer) sits down to discuss the fragility of our digital lives, and how the increasing reliance of globally-connected technologies can leave consumers, private companies and goverments vulnerable to cyber attacks.
The dramatic increase of connected technologies has facilitated large scale innovation in many new areas, including biometrics, intelligent transport and urban security however these new technologies are burdend by a large cost.
Cyber Security and the protection of large scale networks from terrorist organisations and hackers has become critical to our continued development, the safety of our cities infrastructure and our financial systems. Chuck shares his thoughts on how governments and private companies are organising themselves to combat the imminent threat.
“a few lines of code can wreak more havoc than a bomb.”
I spoke with Vice President and Client Executive at Xerox, Chuck Brooks, discussing various components of the cybersecurity market. Xerox is a $22 billion corporation and is one of the largest holders of patents on the globe. In his role, Chuck often writes and speaks on evolving technologies, cybersecurity, public/private sector collaboration, and using social media for government.
Chuck has served as the first Director of Legislative Affairs at the Science & Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security. He’s also served in several senior executive roles in the corporate world, he was a member of the Adjunct Faculty at The Johns Hopkins University, and served as a Senior Advisor to the late Senator Arlen Specter on national security and foreign affairs issues. Chuck’s educational background includes an M.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from DePauw University. He has also studied at The Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands.
Specifically, in this interview, we examine cybersecurity development and research.
Why is research and development into cyber security technologies so important today?
We are a connected world, and the urgency of cybersecurity research and development is directly related to the rapid changes in the information technology landscape. Since 2002, the capabilities and connectivity of cyber devices and communications has grown exponentially. So have the cyber intrusions and threats from malware and hackers, requiring restructuring of priorities and missions. The cyber threat reaches far beyond Al Qaeda, and includes various criminal enterprises and adversarial nation states. As the sophistication of the threats grows, we must be able to continually counteract them. R & D investments also helps address the cybersecurity skills gap by training more professionals to help control risk in the increasingly complex digital landscape.
Is it possible to keep pace with the cyber criminals?
Nothing in the cyber world is invulnerable. There are more targeted, persistent, sophisticated attacks global in destination as well as origination each year. On the technology side new advances in quantum computing, identity management/ authentication, software assurance, real-time monitoring & diagnostics, end-point security, and forensics are providing the tools to help neuter cyber criminals. However, to keep pace, it does take more than just new technology. The weak point is often the human interaction. Since a good portion of cyber intrusion is facilitated by insiders, situational awareness and education about the treats are also very important in the cybersecurity equation. A holistic approach involving people, processes, and technologies will lead to the best possible protection and resiliency. Another important factor in keeping pace is elevating global cooperation via information sharing an enforcement against criminal enterprises. Collaboration in the international financial community to help mitigate threats is now becoming a part of best commercial practices. Recently that community held a table top exercise called Quantum Dawn 2 that simulated cyber-attack and the need for coordinated response.
What are the benefits of having the national labs play a role in cyber R & D?
The nation’s 40 federally funded R&D centers spent $ billions on research and development last year and have compiled a treasure trove of technologies and applications that have cyber applications. The National Labs are composed of some of the best and brightest scientific minds on the planet. The Labs are a reservoir of specialized skills and capabilities that can be tapped by the private sector. Aside from the investment and talent, the labs also have the best state-of-the art facilities for testing and evaluation of technologies. They also have a deep knowledge and accessible database of both classified and unclassified threats. The Science & Technology Directorate at DHS’s S & T helps fund Lab programs with a priority on “leap-ahead technologies” in the cyber arena.
The benefits of the Labs’ role include experienced capability in rapid proto-typing of new technologies ready for transitioning; showcasing, and commercialization. The Transition to Practice Program (TTP) at the DHS Science & Technology (S & T) Directorate is a good example of how Lab cyber technologies are being commercialized. A primary role for TTP is to identify through technology foraging at the DOE National Labs and Federally Funded research and Development Centers (FFRDC’s) and share their capabilities. Recently a DHS TTP event showcased eight new innovative cybersecurity technologies developed by the DOE National Labs.
How would R&D at the national labs differ from the innovation occurring in the private sector?
Research at the Labs has been correlated to security threats to critical infrastructures, especially of national security value. This includes years of innovative basic and applied research on sometimes large projects, including Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) to enterprise architectures and the nation’s critical infrastructures. Private sector research and development has been more geared to creating and selling cybersecurity products, particularly in malware and smart device products. Also, Lab R & D is open for others to commercialize their developmental products in the marketplace.
What is your vision of a perfect mix of public and private research and development efforts?
I cannot put an exact percentage on the mix but a strong working partnership is certainly necessary. Bridging private sector funding & research between government and the private sector will allow for a more focused and capable pipeline and reduce redundancy. This is especially important for protecting our critical infrastructure. Most of the cybersecurity critical infrastructure including; defense, oil and gas, electric power grids, healthcare, utilities, communications, transportation, banking & finance in owned by the private sector and regulated by the public sector. DHS has recognized the imperative for private sector input into cybersecurity requirements across these verticals and along with NIST is developing a strategy to ameliorate shortcomings. The formula for a mix of R & D should emanate from that strategy.
What areas of cyber security are in need of the most research?
There are almost no areas that do not need more research. The “Internet of Things” consisting of hundreds of millions connected IP enabled smart devices is certainly a priority for researchers. Mobile management that involves securing many millions of BYOD devices is currently a challenge for information security both in government and in the private sector. Cloud computing has also taken center stage and securing cloud applications is an area of R & D concentration. There is always a need for better encryption, biometrics, smarter analytics, and automated network security in all categories of research. Also, cyber resilience is an area that must be further developed both in processes and technologies, because no matter what, breaches will happen.
Any thoughts on a tax credit for research and development?
Unfortunately, research and development programs across government have been decimated by Sequestration and Congressional budget issues over the last few years. As we transition fully into the digitized economy, we need to be able to compete and ensure our global innovation edge. Tax credits are a good avenue toward bringing more investment dollars for research and development in cyber, health, transportation, energy and other critical sectors. There is currently legislative language in Congressional bills for tax credits. On the state and local level this is already happening. Last year, Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley signed into law the Cybersecurity Investment Incentive Tax Credit for companies engaged in the development of “innovative and proprietary cybersecurity technology.”
Who should be the main customer of any research and development done at the national labs? The government or the private sector?
The private sector should be the main customer for technologies coming out of the Labs as the global cyber marketplace and especially the end users are predominantly commercial. There is, of course, the exception of National Lab contribution to military sensitive and classified national security programs. Private sector adaptation of new innovative technologies derived from the lab will proved substantial benefits in ensuring critical infrastructure. Funding projects in closer coordination with government and academia will allow for more focused and more capable technology development.
Follow Chuck Brooks on Twitter: @ChuckDBrooks or contact him on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckbrooks
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