Brad D. Williams covers cyber, networks, and emerging tech. He has worked as a journalist and tech writer for 20 years, much of that time focusing on cybersecurity. He began his career on the night desk at a daily newspaper and then spent a decade as a senior tech writer in security operations centers, on cyber red teams, and embedded with engineers building tech for the public and private sectors. In 2015, Brad started a business specializing in cybersecurity content strategy and development. He joined Fifth Domain: Cyber at the publication’s launch in 2017 and developed an enterprise beat covering cybersecurity strategy, policy, operations, and emerging tech. Brad holds a master's degree in English and technical cybersecurity certification. Outside of work, Brad is a member of the United States Chess Federation and writes literature.
bwilliams@breakingmedia.com
“We cannot afford a ‘next time we will do better’ mentality,” said one Defense Digital Service participant. “I strongly believe a proactive approach is critical, which means finding potential problems and addressing them before they are realized.”
“If the past year has taught us anything, it’s the obligation we have as leaders to anticipate the unimaginable,” CISA nominee Easterly said. “I believe as a nation we remain at great risk of a catastrophic cyberattack.”
“Someone told me I was like Chicken Little, but I prefer Paul Revere,” said Sen. King, who co-chaired the commission that recommended creating the national cyber director.
“[Paying the ransom] was the hardest decision I’ve made in my 39 years in the energy industry… and I put the interest of the country first,” Colonial’s CEO told Congress. “I believe with all my heart [paying the ransom] was the right choice to make, but I want to respect those who see this issue differently.”
“From the DoD’s perspective, they’re highly dependent on [Asia] for fabrication and packaging [of chips],” Hudson Institute’s Bryan Clark tells Breaking Defense. This has led to DoD calls to address a “fragile and threatened” chip supply chain.
The single biggest increase in proposed year-over-year cyber funding appears to be for cryptology, and the budget includes a new line item for zero-trust architectures.
The budget requests funding for four new teams for the Cyber Mission Force. Those teams will support CYBERCOM operations and provide cyber support for space operations.
Today’s pipeline directive is likely just the next in a series of actions to shore up national cybersecurity across the private sector, especially those deemed critical infrastructure. “I know there are a number of discussions on the Hill… of a broader data breach notification,” Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger said today.
“We don’t have a parochial view, thinking that because [a cyber incident] happened over there [in that industry], it can’t happen here [in the space industry],” AIAA’s Lee says.
Colonial Pipeline “refused” to share details of ransomware payment with Congress. “Our constituents are on the front lines of these [cyber]attacks, and yet they don’t know what their country is doing to respond,” Rep. Slotkin said.
After just three years, there are now 200 teams across DoD doing DevSecOps, which has saved, on average, a year and $12.5 million per app it’s been used to launch, the Air Force’s Chief Software Officer says. When you consider the number of apps, that’s significant. And now there’s a push to make DevSecOps resources available to JADC2.
DoD uses FAR Part 12 acquisitions to save hundreds of millions of dollars in “of a type” systems like civil landing systems with applicability to military aircraft.
DoD uses FAR Part 12 acquisitions to save hundreds of millions of dollars in “of a type” systems like civil landing systems with applicability to military aircraft.
