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What does leadership look like at the highest levels of service?  SUMMARY In this episode of Long Blue Leadership, Col. (Ret.) Michael Black '85 discusses his journey from cadet to commanding the White House Communications Agency. He reflects on what it means to be a calm, steady presence in high-pressure environments — and how small daily practices can shape a lifetime of leadership. The full episode is now available.   SHARE THIS PODCAST FACEBOOK  |  LINKEDIN   MICHAEL'S LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS Develop a personal leadership philosophy that guides your actions (like Michael's 5F's: Family, Fitness, Flying, Fairness, and Fun). Always be aware that people are watching you and learning from your example, even when you don't realize it. Nurture relationships continuously - they are critical for long-term success and mentorship. Practice empathy and compassion, especially during difficult moments like delivering challenging news Maintain a holistic approach to fitness - physical, mental, and spiritual well-being are interconnected. Take pride in leaving organizations better than you found them and focus on developing future leaders. Be fair and be perceived as fair - understanding different perspectives is crucial to effective leadership. Incorporate fun and balance into your professional life to maintain team morale and personal resilience. Stay connected to your roots and be willing to mentor the next generation, sharing your experiences and lessons learned. Continuously practice self-reflection and ensure you're living up to your core values and leadership principles.   CHAPTERS Chapter 1 - 0:00:00 - 0:08:55: Family and Military Roots   Michael Black shares his background as a military brat and the educational legacy of his family. Chapter 2 - 0:08:55 - 0:12:10: Delivering a Difficult Notification A profound leadership moment where Black sensitively delivers news of a combat-related death to a staff sergeant's family. Chapter 3 - 0:12:10 - 0:18:40: The 5F Leadership Philosophy Introduction Col. Black explains the origin and core components of his leadership framework: Family, Fitness, Flying, Fairness, and Fun. Chapter 4 - 0:18:40 - 0:25:59: Detailed Exploration of 5F Philosophy   In-depth breakdown of each leadership principle, including personal anecdotes and practical applications. Chapter 5 - 0:25:59 - 0:32:21: Family Legacy and Academy Experience   Discussion of his son's Air Force Academy journey and the importance of nurturing relationships across generations. Chapter 6 - 0:32:21 - 0:38:36: Mentorship and Relationship Building Michael shares his approach to mentoring cadets and the significance of maintaining long-term professional connections. Chapter 7 - 0:38:36 - 0:40:13: Leadership in Civilian and Nonprofit Sectors Reflection on applying military leadership principles in private and nonprofit environments. Chapter 8 - 0:40:13 - 0:41:28: Personal Reflection and Leadership Advice  Final thoughts on leadership, self-improvement, and the importance of continuous personal development.   ABOUT COL. BLACK BIO Michael “Mike” B. Black, vice president for Defense, joined the nonprofit Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association International in July 2022. He is a senior cyber/information technology leader with more than four decades of experience in cyber operations, communications, project/program management, leadership disciplines and organizational development. As AFCEA's vice president for Defense, Col. Black builds strong professional relationships with government, industry and academia partners to position AFCEA International as a leader in the cyber, defense, security, intelligence and related information technology disciplines. Col. Black leads defense operations in support of planning and executing global, large-scale, technically focused, trade shows/conferences supporting Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Operations, Cyber and Homeland Security.  Col. Black is focused on providing opportunities for engagement between and among government, industry and academia. Prior to joining AFCEA International, Col. Black served as chief operating officer at Concise Network Solutions for four years, directly supporting the CEO in developing, executing and managing CNS's master business plan. Prior to joining CNS, he served as the COO and chief corporate development officer at JMA Solutions for two and a half years, working in concert with senior executives to lead operations and the planning and execution of strategies. Prior to joining JMA Solutions, he served as the COO at Premier Management Corporation for four years, where he was responsible for day-to-day operations, all business units and the company's profit and loss. Prior to joining the private sector, Col. Black spent 26 years in the U.S. Air Force holding various communications and leadership positions at many levels. He culminated his distinguished military career as a colonel, commander, White House Communications Agency, leading a 1,200-person team of selectively manned military, then-Department of Defense civilian and contract personnel to provide “no fail” telecommunications services for the president, vice president, named successors, first lady, senior White House staff, National Security staff, U.S. Secret Service and the White House Military Office. Col. Black holds a Bachelor of Science in basic science from the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he was a Distinguished Military Graduate. He holds a Master of Science in national resource strategy, with an information operations concentration, from the National Defense University, Industrial College of the Armed Forces; a Master's Degree in military arts and science from the Army Command & General Staff College; and a Master of Arts Degree in management from Webster University. He is a published author, including writing several leadership articles for The New Face of Leadership Magazine as well the thesis Coalition Command, Control, Communication, and Intelligence Systems Interoperability: A Necessity or Wishful Thinking? BIO EXCERPTED FROM AFCEA.ORG   CONNECT WITH MICHAEL IG: @chequethemike FB: @michael black LinkedIn: Michael Black   CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org Ted Robertson | Producer:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org    Ryan Hall | Director:  Ryan.Hall@USAFA.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  Bryan.Grossman@USAFA.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  Wyatt.Hornsby@USAFA.org      ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS   TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Guest, Col. (Ret.) Michael Black '85 | Host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99   Naviere Walkewicz Welcome to Long Blue Leadership, where transformative journeys of Air Force Academy graduates come to life. There are moments in a leader's life that leave a permanent mark. For my guest today, Col. (Ret.) Michael Black, USAFA Class of '85, one such moment came when he was actually sent to deliver news of a combat-related death. It was the first time he'd ever been tasked with that duty, and knew he only had one chance to get it right. As he sat with the widow, Michael found the strength to guide the family through their grief. That part of Michael's story speaks to the depth of his empathy and the calm steadiness that defines him as a leader. We'll explore much more of Michael's journey, from leading the White House Communications team to mentoring cadets at the Academy to daily practices that ground him and the framework that guides him today, what he calls the five Fs of leadership: family, fitness, flying, fairness and fun a guide not only for his life, but for the leaders he inspires. Michael, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. Michael Black Naviere, thank you for having me, and thank you for that very kind introduction. I'm so happy to be here, and I'm just thankful for what you guys do, the AOG and putting this together and telling stories. I think this is amazing. So thank you for the opportunity. Naviere Walkewicz Well, we're grateful you're here. You got your silver on. You got your ‘85 Best Alive, you know, I mean, I'm just blown away here. The class crest… Michael Black Yeah, got it all, you know, the crest and the two squadrons that I was in. I'm just excited, back here for our 40th reunion. Yeah. So that's amazing. So fellowship and fun with your classmates, and just seeing the mountains, you know. Getting off the plane and looking west and seeing the mountains and seeing God's creation is just amazing. And then, of course, the Academy in the background, you know, pretty excited. Naviere Walkewicz Wonderful, wonderful. Well, we're going to jump right in. And actually, the topic is a bit sensitive, but I think it's really important, because we know that when we all raise our right hand, some are prepared and they give all. But not everyone has to actually give the news to the family when their loved one is lost, so maybe you can share what that was like. Michael Black Thank you for allowing me to talk about that. You hit the nail on the head when you said you only have one chance to get it right when you're talking to the family. And so I had a young staff sergeant that was deployed down range at the Horn of Africa, and he happened to be a radio operator in a helicopter supporting the Marines. And there was a mid-air collision that happened while he was deployed, and he was one of the people that perished. So the first notification that I had to make was duty status: whereabouts unknown — to say that to the family. And of course, you can think about the range of emotions that are associated with that. They don't know. We don't know.   Naviere Walkewicz There's still hope. There's not hope.   Michael Black So that was the first day. So going over there with my first sergeant, a medical team, chaplain, you know, that kind of thing, to support us and the family.   Naviere Walkewicz And what rank were you at that time?   Michael Black So I was a lieutenant colonel. So I was a squadron commander of the 1st Comm Squadron at Langley Air Force Base. And I like to say, you don't get to practice that. You have one time to get it right. At least back then, there was not a lot of training to do that. It doesn't happen that often, and so having to make that notification was a tough thing. It was one of the hardest things, if not the hardest thing, I had to do in the service. Two young boys. He had two sons, and at the time, his spouse was military as well, so I go over there to do that the first day. You can imagine, you know, knocking on the door, right, and I'm in uniform, and just the emotions that they can be going through. So we're sitting on the couch in their house, two young boys. I believe their ages were 3 and 5 at the time, they were very young. And I explained to Michelle what we knew. And again, it's scripted. I can't say more or less than that, because 1) don't know, right? And 2), you just don't want to speculate on anything. And then we're waiting to find out his status. So then I have to go back the next day to make that notification, and you're representing the chief of staff of the United States Air Force, and that's kind of something that's scripted for you. “I'm here on the behalf of the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, and I regret to inform you of the untimely death of your spouse.” The part that was even more heartening for me was after I told her, and with the boys sitting, I believe, on either side of me, she said, “And now Col. Black is going to tell you what happened to your dad.” That was a tough thing to do. And I would say it was the hardest thing that I had to do in the Air Force, in my career, and reflect on “you have one chance to get that right.” I believe we got it right, me and my team, but that was tough. Naviere Walkewicz Wow. Have you kept in touch with the family? Michael Black Yes, I keep in touch with Michelle, just from — just a personal because I'm very personal, outgoing, as you know. And so I've kept in touch with Michelle and the boys. But we're forever bonded by that, and I think that's important to stay in touch. And that's kind of one of my things I think we'll get into a little bit later in the conversation, but that's what I do. Naviere Walkewicz Well, it touches, certainly into, I think, that the family aspect of the five Fs, and because it seems like you even take in them as your family. And I'm curious about your family, because when you're going through that, I mean, you have at least a son — you have son, right?   Michael Black Yes, and two daughters.   Naviere Walkewicz Two daughters. So were you thinking about — did you put on your dad hat in that moment?   Michael Black I certainly did put on my dad hat and, and I think that helped in things. And I think all of the training that I got along the way about dealing with tough situations, and being a leader, it helped. But I took it upon myself after that to talk to other commanders. And in fact, my wing commander at the time, Burt Field, Gen. field was a '79 grad, and we talked, and that also brought him and I closer, because he also asked me to brief the other squadron commanders on that process and how I handled that. And I know when — to this day, Gen. Field and I are still very connected, and he's pretty engaged right now with the Air Force Association's birthday and all that. But a great mentor of mine who also helped in dealing with that. But he was extremely supportive and, and I think that had a factor in just how he evaluated me, right, how I handled that situation?   Naviere Walkewicz Well, it sounds like you certainly picked up some of those traits of taking care of your people recognizing empathy within processes and sharing it. I'm curious, were you always like this, or did you see some of this emulated from your family? Michael Black No, it's a great question. I am a military brat. My dad was in the Army. My dad went to Tuskegee — it was called Tuskegee Institute at that time. My mom went to Alabama A&M, so two schools in Alabama. They're from a very small towns in Alabama. My dad's from Beatrice, Alabama — which is less than 200 people today — and my mom is from Vredenburgh, Alabama. It's about 15 miles away, and it's even smaller than Beatrice. But they went to the same elementary school and high school, so high school sweethearts, and then they went off to college. And then dad got a direct commission in the Army, the Signal Corps. Well, he started out Medical Service Corps, but getting back to your question, so yes, family with that, and even take a step further back to my grandparents, on both sides of the family, but particularly with my paternal grandparents, they went out and visited the Tuskegee Institute at that time, and they saw the statue of Lifting the Veil of Ignorance there, and they decided at that point that they wanted their kids to go to that school. And so there's seven kids within my dad's family, and six of them went to Tuskegee. Naviere Walkewicz   Wow. So I want to fast forward a little bit, and you can certainly share whether it was during the Academy or after graduation, but you have kind of had this great foundation from your family. Let's talk a little bit about the Academy or after-Academy experience, where you had seen additional time where you had grown as a leader. Was there a particular experience that can come to mind, where another shaping of this leadership journey that you've been on? Michael Black Yeah, I think there's multiple throughout my career. I mean, I went to the Army Command and General Staff College for my intermediate professional military education. And there's a story there too. My dad was in the Army, and so I wanted to experience some of the things that my dad did, even though I was Air Force. And so one of my mentors, now-retired Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege, was instrumental in me getting selected for Army Command and General Staff College. And so I went there, and I think that was a big portion of my shaping, although had mentors and folks and coaches in my life leading up to that were, you know, helped shape me, but going to that school… And what I noticed when I got there that the Army was very serious about leadership and leadership philosophy, so much so that we took a class on that where we had to develop a leadership philosophy. And so in taking that class, before the Christmas break, I found out that I was going to be a squadron commander. So I was a major, and I was going to be a squadron commander. And so in that leadership course, I said, “Well, I'm going to go be a squadron commander. I'm going to the fifth combat con group in Georgia. Let me make this philosophy that I'm doing in class be my philosophy, so that when I get there…” And that was really the first time that I thought very serious about, “OK, what is my leadership philosophy?” And I had been a flight commander before, and had people under my tutelage, if you will. But being a squadron commander, you know, being on G series orders. And you know, we know how the military takes the importance of being a commander. And so having that so I did decide to develop my philosophy during that time. And you mentioned the five Fs earlier. And so that was — that became the opportunity to develop that. So family, that's what it was. That's when I developed that — in that course. So family, fitness, flying, fairness and fun — the five Fs. I worked on that when I got there. And so then when I got to take command, I had prepared all of that stuff in this academic environment, and I used it to a T and I briefed the squadron after I took command. I think this is my command philosophy, the five Fs. I subsequently had the opportunity to command two more times after that, another squadron, and then at the White House Communications Agency, which is now wing command equivalent. So had the opportunity to tweak and refine, but the foundation was still the five Fs. And so in doing that, and I can go into a little detail. So you know, family is your immediate family, your your blood family, and that that kind of thing. But family also encompasses your unit, your extended family, you know, and part of that. And so I always tell people you know, your family, you don't want to be the only one at your retirement ceremony because you neglected your family. And I've done many retirement ceremonies. In fact, I've done 25-plus since I retired. Well, that shows you really made no so family is, is important, take care of your family. And I, you know, one of the things I said about that to the folks was if you in your unit, if folks are getting assigned unit, permanent changes, station, PCS to your unit, and they haven't found the place to live in the due time and whatever the house hunting days are, I always gave my folks the option of give them some more time to find a place. They may be looking for schools, I mean looking for a place that just fits the environment that they need. And let's give them that time now, because they're not going to be effective in the organization if they're worried about where they have to live, where their kids are going to go to school and that kind of thing. So take care of all of that, and then get them to work, and they'll be that much more effective because they won't have to worry about where they're living, where the kids are going to school. So take care of your family fitness. You understand physical fitness and what you do and all of that, and I admire all of your accomplishments in that. And so physical fitness in the military kind of goes without saying. You have to maintain certain standards and do that, and do a PT and take a test and that kind of thing. But fitness is more than just physical fitness. It's spiritual and mental fitness. Now I would never be one to tell somebody this is how you need to nurture your spiritual and mental fitness. I think that's personal. But if your spiritual mental fitness is not being nourished, you're not going to be doing yourself any good, your team any good. And honestly, you would be able to tell if an individual is struggling with their spiritual or mental fitness, particularly as a leader and just kind of looking and observing characteristics and the behavior of folks. So I basically told my team, I want you to do whatever it takes to nurture your spiritual and mental fitness, whatever you need to do — if it's meditating, if it's praying, if it's walking, whatever is personal to you, but make sure that it's nurtured. But I also told my folks that if you think my spiritual fitness and mental fitness is out of balance, I want you to tell me, because I might have blinders on. I could be focused on things, just like they could be focused on things, and I would tell them. And I think folks really appreciated the candor and the openness of the leader, the commander, you know, saying that, yes, I want you to tell me if you think my spiritual mental fitness is, you know, is out of balance.   Naviere Walkewicz Did you ever have anyone tell you that?   Michael Black I did. I had strong relationships with my first sergeant, or my command sergeant major, the senior enlisted adviser. So we were, you know, we're hand-in-hand and all the places I was at. And so, yes, I've had them. I've had my wife tell me that. So I think that's important. I just — like I said, you can easily have blinders on and maybe just not see that or have blind spots. And speaking of that, I've written a leadership article on blind spots. I've kind of studied that and understand that. Flying — at the time the primary mission of the Air Force was flying. And so I'd always say, “What is your role in supporting the primary mission, or what is our role in supporting the primary mission of the Air Force?” So make sure you understand that. As a communicator, how do you contribute to the primary mission, or as a logistician, or as information management? But understand what your role is in the primary mission of the Air Force. Fairness, as a leader — it is so important for the leader to be fair, right? It can affect good order and discipline if you're not fair, but equally important is to be perceived as being fair. So I could think I'm being fair, I could think that I'm being fair, but if the perception of the unit, the team, is that I'm not being fair, that's just as detrimental to the mission as actually not being fair. And so I think perceptions are important, and you need to understand that. You need to be aware of the perceptions; you need to be ready to receive the information and the feedback from your team on that. And so I stress the importance of also the perception people have different management. I could be looking at something over there, and I say, “OK, yeah, sky is blue over there,” but somebody's looking at it from a different you know, they may see a touch of some clouds in there, and so they see some light in there, and from their vantage point. And it's just like that in life: Respect everybody's vantage point in things. And so that was the fairness aspect. Then finally, fun. I'm a person that likes to have fun.   Naviere Walkewicz You are?!   Michael Black Yes, I am. I'm a person that loves to have fun. And so for me, I grew up playing sports. And so I played sports throughout my Air Force career. So that was kind of one of the things I did for fun, intramurals.   Naviere Walkewicz What was your favorite sport?   Michael Black My favorite sport was baseball growing up. I mean, I dreamed about trying to play in the Major Leagues and that kind of stuff. And I played on a lot of baseball teams growing up, and then when I got into the service, played softball, and I played competitive softball. Back in the day, they have base softball teams, and so you would, you know, try out for the team, and I would try out, and I played on base team at probably at least four or five bases that I was at. So I was, these are my own words: I was good. So I played and was very competitive in intramurals. That's another way to bring your team together — camaraderie. They see the boss out there playing. And I always would tell folks that on the squadron team: They're not playing me because I'm the commander. They're playing me because I'm good. I can contribute to the wins in a game. But so it's very competitive. I wasn't a win at all costs, but it wasn't fun to lose. So being competitive and fun. So that's one of the things I did for fun. I also follow professional sports. San Antonio Spurs is my basketball team; Washington Commanders, my football team. So I would go to those events, those games, those contests and stuff like that. Music, concerts, still do that kind of stuff with my kids and my family incorporate fun into — so it's not all work and no play. I think you do yourself justice by, winding down relaxing a little bit and having fun and that kind of thing. And so I encourage my team to do that. Wasn't gonna tell people what they needed to do for fun. I think that's personal, but having fun is important and it helps strike that balance. So that's really the five Fs. And I carried that, as I said, every time I command, every time I've, you know, unit that I've been associated with, particularly after the 2000 graduation from Army Command and Staff College. And I still carry that five Fs today And incidentally, I think the if you bump into somebody who was in one of my units, they're going to remember the five Fs, or some portion of it. In fact, I have a couple mentees that commanded after me, and they adopted the five Fs as their command philosophy. And that's kind of something that's very satisfying as a leader to have somebody adopt your leadership style. They think that it was good for them while they were in the unit. And it's very flattering to see that afterwards. I mean, so much so that I've had people that were in my unit, and then they got assigned to one of my mentee's unit, and they would call me up and they'd say, “Hey, Col. Black, you know, Col. Packler says his command philosophy is the five Fs.” Yeah, I said Marc was in my unit at Langley, and he probably felt that. But that's, that's a true story. Naviere Walkewicz That's a legacy, right there; that's wonderful. Well, speaking of legacy, you have a son that's also a graduate. So talk about that. I mean, you were expected to go to college. It wasn't an if, it was where? How about your children? Was that kind of the expectation? Michael Black So my wife is a college graduate. She's a nurse as well. And so we preached education throughout. And just as an aside, shout out to my wife, who just completed her Ph.D.   Naviere Walkewicz Wow, congratulations!   Michael Black Yes. Wilda Black, last week, in doing that. And so between my family, my immediate family — so my wife, and my two daughters and my son, there are 15 degrees between us.   Naviere Walkewicz And you?   Michael Black And me. So five us, there are 15 degrees. My wife has two master's, a bachelor's and now a Ph.D. My oldest daughter has a bachelor's and two master's. My son has a bachelor's and a master's. My younger daughter has a bachelor's and a master's, and I have a bachelor's and three master's degrees. So I think that adds up to 15.   Naviere Walkewicz I lost count. Social sciences major here.   Michael Black So yes, education. And so my son — he really liked quality things, likes quality things growing up. And so he was looking at schools and researching and looking at the Ivy League, some of the Ivy League schools, and some other schools that, you know, had strong reputations. I purposely did not push the Air Force Academy to him because I didn't want him to go for the wrong reasons. I didn't want him to go because I went there and that kind of thing. But late in the game, you know, in his summer, going into his senior year of high school, he came to me and said, “Hey…” and I'm paraphrasing a little bit, “Dad, you know, your alma mater is pretty good, you know, pretty, you know, pretty has a strong reputation.” And I said, “Yeah, you know, you know, strong academic curriculum and everything else there.” So that summer he said, “Well, I'm thinking I might want to go there.” And I'm thinking to myself, “That's a little bit late in the game, like the summer going into senior year.”   Naviere Walkewicz Did you recruit your mom again?   Michael Black Mom got involved. And then I think you know Carolyn Benyshek. So Carolyn was the director of admissions. I reached out to her and just said, “Hey, I got my son that's interested.” They were actually coming to Baltimore, I believe, for a…   Naviere Walkewicz The Falcon Experience. Right.   Michael Black And so we went to see her, and I'll just kind of say the rest is history. Through her help and guidance, through my son's qualifications — he was able to get in. He went to the Prep School, which is great, and I just want to give a shout out to the Prep School for that. I did not attend the Prep School, but I saw the value of my son going to the Prep School and then coming to the Academy. So I just to this day, thankful for our Prep School and how they prepare folks.   Naviere Walkewicz We feel similarly about that.   Michael Black So, yeah. So he went. And so, of course, a proud dad, right? Your son following in your footsteps, and that kind of thing. So Clinton, Clinton Black is in the Space Force now, and he's assigned to Vandenberg. But my son, he was a soccer player growing up, played a lot of competitive soccer, came here and decided that he wanted to do Wings of Blue, and so he was on Wings of Blue parachute team. And the neat thing about that is that the jump wings that my son wears are the jump wings that my dad earned at Airborne School in 1964, '65 — sometime in the early ‘60s. And so my dad was still living at the time and so he was able to come out here and pin the wings on Clinton. So it skipped a generation because I didn't jump or anything. But my son jumped, and he has mid-500 number of jumps that he's had. And so my dad was able to see him jump, and that was even though Airborne is a teeny bit different than free fall, but still, you know, parachuting, and all of that. So getting to see Clinton excel and do that and see him jump into the stadium, and that kind of thing. He jumped with some of the former Navy SEALs in the X Games, you know, in the mountains. So that was just a proud parent moment. Naviere Walkewicz Wow. That is very exciting. And so, through all of these experiences that you had, I keep wanting to go back to the five Fs .yYu had mentioned earlier that you did some refinement to it. So where you are now, how are you using them? How have they been refined? I mean, flying. What is that? Michael Black So, I asked people to take a little bit of a leap in that, understand where it came from, in my 5s but that aspect refers to the mission, right? And so the Air Force mission has evolved to include space and that kind of thing. But even on the private side, the civilian side, I still use the five F's. And so the flying aspect just refers to the mission, or whatever the mission of your organization is. And so there was some refinement as we brought in space into our mission, but it really reflected on the mission. And so I had different AFSCs that worked for me in in the different units that I was at, and also different services. And so understanding the service aspect of things also was something that I had to take into consideration as far as keeping and refining that, at the White House Communications Agency, about 1,200 military — more Army than Air Force, more Air Force than Navy, more Navy than Marine Corps, and more Marine Corps than Coast Guard. And so being an Air Force commander of a joint unit that had more Army folks in it, you have to understand that lingo, and be able to speak cool and that kind of thing. Dad loved that. And so going to the Army Command General Staff College, and, getting some of that philosophy and understanding that. And then I went to what's now called the Eisenhower School, now ICAF, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, which is another joint school. And so being around that helped me in those aspects. But really applying that throughout and after I retired, I did 10 years in the private sector with a couple of different small businesses that were government contracted focused, providing professional services, but still, as the chief operating officer of each one of those, it's a pretty high leadership position within the company and so I talked about the five Fs in some terms that my team could understand that, and so still apply that. And then now, with three years working for the nonprofit, the AFCEA organization, where we bring government, industry and academia together to do IT, cyber kind of things, machine learning, artificial intelligence — I still have that philosophy to buy that and what I do, I think it's something that's applicable across the board, not just military. At least I've made it applicable. Naviere Walkewicz I was just gonna ask that, because talk about the private sector and — some of our listeners, they take off the uniform, but they still have that foundation of the military, but they're working with people who maybe don't have that foundation of the military. So how did you translate that in a way that they could feel that same foundation, even though they hadn't gone through a military family or through the Air Force Academy? Michael Black Yeah, no, that's a great question, Naviere. And I think, as a leader, you have to be aware of that. You have to be aware of your team and their background and their experiences. You also you have to speak their lingo, right? I mean, I can't talk just Air Force or military lingo. We talk a lot in acronyms. Naviere Walkewicz Like AFCEA. And I'm sure many know it but would you mind spelling it out? Michael Black Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association. And even though we have that we are more than the armed forces now, so we really are known by just AFCEA, even though that's what that acronym stands for. So I mean, I work with Homeland Security, VA and that kind of thing. But to your point, getting folks to understand where I'm coming from, and I need to understand where they're coming from, you have to take the time, put in the work to do that, so that you can communicate with your folks, and so that they understand where you're coming from, and also, so that they feel valued, right? That you understand where they're coming from. And I think all of that is important. And I tried to make sure that I did that, and I had coaches, mentors and sponsors along the way. So I learned when some of my mentors transition from the military time, and so when they went to go work in the private sector, I still lean on them. “OK, how did you make this transition? And what is it about? And what are the similarities and what are the differences? What do I need to consider in doing that?” And I'm thankful, and that goes back to one key point that I want to make about relationships and nurturing that relationship. I mentioned Gen. Field, worked for him in the early 2000s. But here we are, 2025, and he's in my contacts, he will take my call, he will respond to a text, and vice versa. You know, building that relationship. And so he's with a nonprofit now, and so I still stay in touch with him. The director of the White House Military Office was a Navy admiral that I worked for when I was at the White House. He is now the president and CEO of the United States Naval Institute — Adm. Spicer. You know, 20-something, 15 years ago, worked for him and now we're working together on a big conference. But those relationships are important in nurturing those relationships. And I learned about nurturing from my family. You know, my grandparents, who did that. My grandfather was a farmer. He had to nurture his crops for them to produce. So the same thing, analogy applies in relationships; you have to nurture that relationship. And you know, it circled all the way back to, you know, our 40-year reunion now, and my classmates that are here and nurturing those relationships with those classmates over the years is important to me. I'm the connector within my class, or the nucleus. I mean, those are two nicknames that my classmates have given me: the Col. Connector and Nucleus, and I embrace those. Naviere Walkewicz Yes, that's wonderful. I know that you also mentor cadets. And I think my question for you, from the aspect of some of our listeners, is, did you seek out the cadets? Did they seek you out? How does that mentorship relationship start? Because you talked about how, like, for example, Gen. Field, you had that relationship years ago. That's kind of carried through. But how do you know when that mentorship is beginning? Michael Black I think both of those aspects, as you mentioned. Do they seek that? There are cadets that seek that based upon just what they've experienced and what they've learned. And then some of the cadets know people that I know, and so they've been referred to me, and all that. Some were — like their parents, I worked with their parents. I mean, particularly in the Class of 2023 there are three young ladies that I mentored in the Class of 2023 one whose father worked with me on the White House Communications Agency, one whose mother babysat my kids OK. And then one who's ROTC instructor in junior in high school was my first sergeant. So in those three instances, I was connected to those folks through relationship with either their parents or somebody that worked for me and that that kind of thing. And that was a neat thing to, you know, to be here. I did the march back with those young ladies, and then I connected those three young ladies who did not know each other at the march back, when we got back on the Terrazzo, I found all three of them and explained my relationship with each of them. And they were able to be connected throughout and two of them I actually commissioned, So that was really, really nice. And so, you know, seeking mentorship is, well, mentorship has just been important to me. I benefited from mentorship, and I want to return that favor. I am the chairman of the Air Force Cadet Officer Mentor Association, AFCOMA, whose foundation is mentorship, fellowship and scholarship, and so I'm passionate about mentorship and doing that. I've seen the benefits of it. People did it for me, and I think you can shorten the learning curve. I think you can just help folks along the way. So I'm very passionate about that. Naviere Walkewicz Well, this has been amazing. I think there's two questions I have left for you. The first one being — and I think we've learned a lot about this along the way — but if you were to summarize, what is something you are doing every day to be better as a leader? Michael Black I think every day I take a deep look inside myself, and am I living and breathing my core values? And what am I doing to help the next generation? You know, trying to put that on my schedule, on my radar, that's important to me. And whether I'm at work with AFCEA, whether I'm out here at my 40th reunion, whether I'm on vacation, I always take the time to mentor folks and pass on that. I think that's something that's passionate for me. You mentioned, when we talked about the retirement ceremonies. I mean, I've done 20-plus since I retired. In fact, I have one in November, but it will be my 27th retirement ceremony since I retired. And those things are important to me. And so I reflect, I try to keep my fitness — my physical, spiritual and mental fitness, in balance every day so that I can be effective and operate at a peak performance at the drop of the hat. You know, being ready. And so that's important to me. So there's some self-analysis, and I do live and breathe the five F's. I think that's important. And I think I've proven to myself that that is something that is relatable, not only to my time in the military, but my time in the private sector, and now my time in a nonprofit. And I just continue to do that so self-reflection and really practicing particularly the fitness aspect of the five Fs. Naviere Walkewicz Wow, that's outstanding. And then you probably share this with your mentees. But what is something that you would help our aspiring leaders — those who are already in leadership roles in any facet of it — but what is something that they can do today so that they will be more effective as a leader? Michael Black So I think being aware that people are watching you and your actions. Even when you think that somebody is not watching, they are watching. And so they are trying to learn what to do next, and to be aware of that. And so I think, again, that goes with what you asked me first: What do I do every day. But also being aware of that, so that you can be that example to folks. And then take the time, have some pride in leaving the organization better than it was when you got there. I mean, it's a cliche, but I think I take a lot of pride in that. And then, when the team does good, everybody does good, so you shouldn't necessarily be out there for any kind of glory. That's going to come. But do it for the right reasons. And provide… give the people the tools, the resources and the environment to be successful. And in… I just take satisfaction when I see one of my mentees get squadron command, go do something like the current commander of the White House Communications Agency, Col. Kevin Childs. He was a captain and a major in the organization when I was there. Nothing makes me happier than to see my mentees excel. And then, in this particular instance, he's holding a job that I had, and we still talk. I mean, he had me come out there to speak to the unit about a month ago. And those things give me a lot of pride and satisfaction and confirmation that I am doing the right thing. And so I'm excited about that. Naviere Walkewicz Well, I can say, from the time that I met you a few years ago, you are living what your five Fs. I see it every time you help champion others. Every time I'm around you I'm  energized. So this has been a true joy. Has there been anything that I haven't asked you that you would like to share with our listeners? Michael Black Well, I do want to say personally, thank you to you for all that you do and what the association is doing here. This Long Blue conversation, Long Blue Line — I think this is important to share. There's a Class of 1970 that's in the hotel with us, and I don't know, really, any of those folks, but when I see them walking around with their red hat on — that was their color — and I think about, “OK, 15 years before me.” And so I'm 62. These guys are, if I did the public math, right, 77, 78, maybe even older, depending upon what they did, and still out there doing things, and some of them here with their spouses and that kind of thing. I was just talking to one of the classmates this morning, I said, “You know, I wonder if we're going to be like this when our 55th reunion is,” and they were walking around, and most were in good health and able to do things. So that gives a lot of pride. But, what you're doing, what the rest of the folks here are doing, I think this is amazing. I love the new building, the studio that we're in. This is my first time in the new building, so I'm thankful for this opportunity, and just excited about what you guys do. Naviere Walkewicz Well, thank you so much for that. It's been an absolute pleasure having you on Long Blue Leadership. Michael Black Well, I appreciate it. It's been an honor, and I'm glad you guys timed this for my '85 Best Alive reunion and in the new studio. Naviere Walkewicz Yes, wonderful. Well, as we bring today's conversation to a close, Michael left a reminder for us that stands to me. As a leader, you're always on, you're always being watched. You know your steady presence and deep empathy were forged in life's hardest moments, from guiding a young family through unimaginable loss to breaking the barriers at the highest levels of service to mentoring cadets who will carry forward the legacy of leadership. And then there's that framework he lived by, the five Fs of leadership. It is practical as it is powerful, family, fitness, flying mission, fairness and fun, each one a reminder that leadership is about balance grounding and the courage to keep perspective no matter the challenge. His story reminds us that true leaders create more leaders, and when we anchor ourselves in purpose, faith and these five Fs, we leave behind a legacy that lasts. Thank you for listening to Long Blue Leadership. I'm Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz. Until next time. KEYWORDS Michael Black, Air Force leadership, 5F leadership philosophy, military mentorship, leadership development, combat communication, White House Communications, Space Force, veteran leadership, empathetic leadership, military career progression, leadership principles, professional growth, organizational effectiveness, cadet mentoring, military communication strategy, leadership resilience, Air Force Academy graduate, leadership philosophy, team building, professional relationships.       The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation    

On today's Technology Report podcast, sponsored by Elbit America, Scott Sloan, the president of Stratascorp Technologies, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss his commentary on the AFCEA website — “Data Won't Solve Everything, But It Will Help: Interdepartmental data-sharing could be a game-changer for the future of the maritime industrial base workforce” — how to leverage data to more thoughtfully address workforce challenges; the importance of structuring data collection systems with sharing in mind; engineering data systems to ensure collaboration across government and industry; roles of artificial intelligence and machine learning in data collection and analysis; how to scale recruiting beyond the maritime industry to also include air, land, space, and cyber fields; opportunities and challenges as the Trump administration implements the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification approach to improve cybersecurity.

HPod hits the road, coming to you from AFCEA's TechNet Cyber event in Baltimore, Md., this time featuring three experts from HP Federal: Justin Hancock and Jeff Smith, both in advanced compute solutions, and Kristin Hempstead, advanced compute solutions strategy manager. They explore a complex balancing act — how federal agencies can securely harness AI and edge computing to meet the mission without exposing their operations or their infrastructures to new supply chain risks.

In this episode of Unveiled: GovCon Stories, we explore what happens when innovation meets bureaucracy in government contracting. Dean Niedosik shares how his team developed a promising cyber/AI product—only to have progress stalled by the pandemic and ultimately shut down by corporate decision-making. He reflects on navigating leadership hurdles, the shift to small business agility, and the balance between structure and creativity. It's a candid look at resilience, pivoting under pressure, and rethinking innovation in federal markets.Dean Niedosik is the Director of Growth at HumanTouch (HT), with over 20 years of experience in strategic innovation, tech sales, and systems integration across the public and private sectors. He leads business development, capture, and marketing to drive federal sector growth through data management and AI/NLP solutions. His career includes building the Red Bull brand, launching Alcatel Mobile's IP products, and leading strategic innovation at Booz Allen. Dean also co-chairs AFCEA's International Small Business Committee and Innovation Roundtable, championing small business success in government markets.Call(s) to Action:Help spread the word about Unveiled: GovCon Stories: https://shows.acast.com/unveiled-govcon-storiesDo you want to be a guest or recommend a topic that you would like to learn or hear about on the podcast? Let us know through our guest feedback and registration form.Links:HumanTouch: https://www.humantouchllc.com/ Case Studies & Insights: https://www.humantouchllc.com/blog HumanTouch Capability Statement HumanTouch SolutionsSponsors:The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the hosts and guests, and do not reflect the views or endorsements of our sponsors.Withum – Diamond Sponsor!Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm, helping clients to be in a position of strength in today's complex business environment. Go to Withum's website to learn more about how they can help your business! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maintaining legacy communications systems is expensive and can leave military services like the Navy and Marine Corps behind. During AFCEA West in San Diego, Verizon Navy and Marine Corps Public Sector Director David Reaves explained how he's seeing the Navy's challenges in modernizing voice and data communications, focusing on the Defense Department's mandate to transition from outdated systems to IP-based infrastructure. Reaves said that the high cost and difficulty of maintaining legacy systems means that the Navy should modernize to an enterprise-wide deployment strategy to ensure consistency and cost-effectiveness across bases. Reaves also discussed the importance of converging voice and data networks for operational efficiency and explained how the Navy can leverage existing contracts to streamline the acquisition of modern technologies like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

The Naval Postgraduate School's recent partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit formalizes NPS' focus on fostering innovation in the school's student body. NPS President Ann Rondeau said Thursday that the the school not only supports innovation, but lays the foundation for creative thinking, collaboration and finding real-world solutions to support the Defense Department. During AFCEA West in San Diego, California, California, Rondeau described NPS as a hub for "warrior scholars" – experienced military, international, civilian government and industry professionals – who work together to address real challenges facing DOD. She added that the school's curriculum is also continuously updated based on feedback, ensuring relevance and responsiveness to evolving needs like AI, quantum and other emerging technology.

The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command supports technical authority and acquisition command for information warfare, which presents modernization challenges as the speed of technology evolution increases. At AFCEA West in San Diego, NAVWAR CIO Ben Motten said his office is empowering the workforce by providing the necessary tools and capabilities, allowing warfighters to focus on the mission rather than the technology itself. Legacy infrastructure and software present hurdles, he said, but they also provide an opportunity to modernize by "leapfrogging" to newer technologies like low-code/no-code platforms and future spectrum connectivity technologies.

In 2024, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) signed a memo of understanding to codify their joint effort to develop future leaders to manage innovative solutions. During AFCEA West in San Diego, Kaitie Penry, director of emerging technology and innovation at the Naval Postgraduate School, discussed how that agreement is going. She highlighted the impact it has had on developing leadership skills in students, particularly in acquisition and innovation, and preparing them for senior-level positions in the Defense Department. Penry also discussed how she is fostering an innovative mindset to meet DOD and student needs.

During AFCEA West in San Diego, California, Mark Gorak, Defense Department's principal director for resources and analysis and director of the Cyber Academic Engagement Office, discussed his priorities for cyber talent and retention amid new federal leadership. Gorak lauded his office's efforts to lower the average days it takes to hire cyber talent and discussed his efforts to retain cyber talent. The Cyber Workforce Strategy, which has been deployed since 2023, has been implemented hand in hand with ongoing and emerging innovations within and outside of the department. Gorak has overseen hiring thousands of employees. He noted that departures from the agency allow other agencies and industry to hire talented individuals from the DOD, creating an ecosystem of like-minded experts throughout government.

The Marine Corps is modernizing its systems to keep pace with rapidly evolving technology while centering warfighters. During AFCEA West in San Diego, California, Marine Corps Systems Command Cyber Technology Officer Gaurang Dävé said that innovation requires speed in delivering capabilities to the warfighter. Dävé highlighted that Marines act as sensors in the battlespace, needing the best information in real-time for informed decision-making. Dävé also discussed the Marine Corps' approach of containerized, modular applications and the service's collaborative work with the Army's software factory in Austin, Texas, that allows Marines to code applications and receive hands-on training in innovative technology.

Security and agility are critical to balancing the Department of the Navy's zero-trust journey amid evolving cloud modernization priorities. At AFCEA West in San Diego, California, DON's CIO Jane Rathbun discussed the service's recent zero-trust achievements with its Flank Speed initiative to enable secure cloud deployment. Rathbun shared some of the lessons learned for other organizations throughout the journey. She also highlighted how collaboration between cyber operators, acquisition communities, resource sponsors and requirement owners enabled the service's success and discussed how the role of operator feedback, especially from cyber operators, is shaping IT architecture and future modernization.

Countering adversaries in the cyber domain requires the Navy to harness information at the speed of technological innovation. During AFCEA West in San Diego, California, Vice Adm. Craig Clapperton, commander of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and Navy Space Command, discussed how he is approaching the evolving landscape of cyber threats and developing strategies to counter them in his dual-hat role. From recent cyber incidents like SolarWinds and Volt Typhoon, to the role of emerging technologies like AI, Clapperton dives into the complexities of modern cyber warfare and explains how he's eyeing collaboration with industry partners and allies, recruiting top cyber talent and staying ahead of adversaries in a rapidly changing digital environment.

Zero Trust is becoming a critical pillar of the department of Defense's cybersecurity strategy. The strategy, embodied by the motto of “never trust, always verify,” demands a new outlook on cybersecurity. Randy Resnick discusses why Zero Trust is so important, how his office is working to reshape the way DOD employees view zero trust, and how clear standards can help the DOD and other agencies adopt zero trust in their operations.

From the battlefield to headquarters, the potential of 5G networks opens the door for new partnerships, strategies and emerging technologies. At TechNet Cyber, Defense Department 5G Cross Functional Team Director Juan Ramirez discusses how 5G unites the department under multiple interoperability efforts, prepares the warfighter for the fight of the future and enhances the cybersecurity of the DOD apparatus.

The Defense Department's Fulcrum: DoD Information Technology (IT) Advancement Strategy unites many of DOD's cybersecurity strategies under one umbrella. It also provides a roadmap through 2029 for the DOD CIO's essential support of the National Defense Strategy. Robert Franzen, Deputy Customer Experience Officer at the DOD CIO's office, breaks down the department's recently unveiled Fulcrum and how it will support warfighters and the entirety of the Defense Department.

The military services are prioritizing developing technology in warfighting scenarios and fielding it quickly. At the Department of the Navy, officials are thinking about how to bring forward a set capabilities that can be interoperable throughout different scenarios while maintaining security. At AFCEA TechNet Cyber, Navy CIO Jane Rathbun discussed interoperability in the defense industry and platform standardization and cybersecurity.

Every day, thousands of attacks are directed at U.S. military, government and defense industrial base systems. Protecting those systems is increasingly a key part of the national defense mission and keeping pace with adversaries is critical. Gen. Timothy Haugh leads Cyber Command and the National Security Agency in a dual-hat role. According to him, the ability to adapt and build resiliency is key to building cybersecurity. At AFCEA TechNet Cyber, Haugh broke down how threats are evolving, his plans for combatting them and how cybersecurity impacts national security.

Officials at Joint Force Headquarters – Department of Defense Information Network (JFHQ-DODIN) need to protect the DOD's thousands of employees when they use the network. To secure the system, JFHQ-DODIN uses a multi-faceted approach to cybersecurity, including adaptive intelligence, identity management and partnerships. At AFCEA TechNet Cyber, JFHQ-DODIN Director of Operations Col. Michael Reeder discussed data security, the importance of collaboration within the cybersecurity community and DOD's unified force approach to network operations.

Challenges can be opportunities when it comes to software modernization at the Defense Department. The agency is meeting these opportunities with the release of its new Fulcrum strategy and ongoing zero trust efforts, according to DOD Director of Cloud & Software Modernization George Lamb. At AFCEA TechNet Cyber, Lamb discussed progress made on the Pentagon's 2022 software modernization strategy, how the new Fulcrum strategy ties into software modernization goals and the necessity of zero trust being baked into all DOD operations.

Connectivity is integral to the warfighting force, but connecting the dispersed military and civilian workforce around the world is challenging. It requires a balance of speed and security while also prioritizing the user experience and modernizing infrastructure. At AFCEA TechNet Cyber, Defense Information Systems Agency J6 Global Services Directorate Vice Director Brig. Gen. Michael Cornell discusses cybersecurity efforts and how the department is embracing best practices and innovation while deploying new technology.

One year since the publication of the Defense Department's Cyber Workforce Implementation Plan, the department has made progress on filling 30,000 open cybersecurity roles. At AFCEA TechNet Cyber, DOD Principal Director for Resources & Analysis Mark Gorak discusses the plan and how it's enabled the department to fill about 3,000 jobs so far. He also breaks down the next steps ahead in achieving full department efficiency and the plans to identify, upskill, train and retrain a mission-focused cyber workforce.

As the third largest network in the world behind the U.S. and China, Joint Force Headquarters – Department of Defense Information (DODIN) has many vulnerabilities it must secure. A key part of this mission is recruiting the talent to fill its numerous open cyber roles. DODIN Network Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Heather Blackwell said key to building strong cybersecurity is having an engaged and innovative workforce. At AFCEA TechNet Cyber, Blackwell discussed how culture, the workforce and technology work together to secure DODIN.

Jason Miller is the Executive Editor of Federal News Network and has covered the federal technology space over the course of five Presidential administrations. He brings his wealth of knowledge as he joins Tech Transforms to talk about AI, the top things government agencies are working towards this year and his predictions around FedRAMP changes. Jason also pulls on his decades of experience as he discusses events that changed the nation's approach to cybersecurity and the longstanding need to have data that is better, faster and easier to use.Key Topics00:00 AI's impact on texting and cloud's significance.04:17 Federal Enterprise Risk Management in government tech.07:20 AI trends shifting toward real-time application.11:22 2025 and 2027 deadlines for zero trust.13:31 CISOs and CIOs adapting to modern technology.16:45 Frustration with FedRAMP leads to reform efforts.21:39 Applying similar model to expand decision-making.23:37 GSA discussed OSCAL at private industry day.27:55 CISA's role has grown within DHS.30:33 Increased transparency in cybersecurity changed approach significantly.34:17 Reflecting on the 2006 significance of data.39:19 AFCEA events bring together good people.42:53 Fascination with government architecture and dedicated government workers.44:35 Promoting positivity and accountability in government industry.Cybersecurity Evolution: Examining Technology's Political Neutrality and AI Commitment Through Administrative ChangesConsistent Focus on Cybersecurity Evolution Across Political AdministrationsJason expressed a clear conviction that technology issues are largely immune to political fluctuation and are a continuity in government agendas. Reflecting on his experience across five administrations, he noted that the foundational technological discussions, such as cloud adoption, cybersecurity enhancement and overall IT improvement are fundamentally preserved through transitions in political leadership. He highlighted that the drive to enhance government IT is typically powered by the resilience and dedication of public servants, who generally carry on valuable reforms and initiatives regardless of the sitting administration's politics. These individuals are essential to sustaining progress and ensuring that technology remains a key priority for effective governance.Federal IT Policies Consistency: "No one comes in and says, I'm against AI, or cloud is bad, move back on premise, or cybersecurity, defund cybersecurity. I think those are the issues that stay the same." — Jason MillerExecutive Orders and AI AdoptionAddressing the specifics of executive orders, particularly those influencing the implementation and development of artificial intelligence (AI), Jason examined their historical persistence and their potential to shape operational practices in the government sector. He and Mark discussed how the stability of AI-related orders through various administrations is indicative of a broader governmental consensus on the integral role AI holds in modernizing federal operations. Despite changes in leadership, the incoming officials frequently uphold the momentum established by their predecessors when it comes to leveraging AI. Indicating a shared, bipartisan recognition of its strategic importance to the government's future capabilities and efficiencies.Cybersecurity Evolution: Zero Trust Principles and Network Security Challenges in Federal AgenciesZero Trust and Cybersecurity BudgetingDuring the podcast, Carolyn and Jason delve into the current trends and expectations for federal cybersecurity advancements, with a particular focus on zero trust architecture. Their discussion acknowledged that agencies are on a tight schedule to meet the...

It's March 15th, 2024, and time for Point of View Friday, where we cover a single topic from multiple perspectives. Today's point of discussion is around the recent Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency hack, and it's suspected perpetrators and implications. We have perspectives from Julie Chatman in Washington, D.C., Katy Craig in San Diego, California, Trac Bannon in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and Olimpiu Pop from Transylvania, Romania. We also have a couple of interviews from last month's, AFCEA cybersecurity conference held in San Diego, California.We'll start with Katy Craig.Resources and 300+ episodes, all free, all ungated:https://505updates.com/

It's March 8th, 2024, International Women's Day, and time for Point of View Friday, where we cover a single topic from multiple perspectives. Today's point of discussion is around the risk of backdoored AI. We have perspectives from Julie Chatman in Washington, D.C., Katy Craig in San Diego, California, Trac Bannon in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and Olimpiu Pop from Transylvania, Romania. We also have a couple of news stories at the end, and some interviews from the annual AFCEA conference held in San Diego, California last month.We'll start with Julie Chatman.Resources and 300+ episodes, all free, all ungated:https://505updates.com/

Partnerships play a critical part of the innovation work across the Defense Department. The complex global threat landscape, in both the kinetic and cybersecurity domains, requires partnerships to solve some of the most pressing national security challenges. Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare Jennifer Edgin discussed at AFCEA West the ways her office is leveraging partnerships, using emerging technology and modernizing its systems.

Leveraging the next generation's digital skill sets, comfort with technology and innovation is key to the Marine Corps' vision for its future software-savvy workforce. Lt. Col. Charlie Bahk, director of the Marine Corps Software Factory launched last year, tells GovCIO Media and research at AFCEA West that “all you have to do is just kind of get out of the way a little bit.” Bahk also discusses the evolution of the Marine Corps Software Factory as it nears its one-year anniversary, challenges he foresees in developing software capabilities for warfighters and the value of collaboration and resourcefulness in software development.

Metrics are critical to assessing a contract's or program's success in IT procurement at the Navy. Measuring success can be difficult without these clear parameters. Justin Fanelli, acting CTO at the Department of the Navy and technical director at Navy PEO Digital and Enterprise Services, discussed with us at AFCEA West the ways in which the Navy is measuring program success. He said when a program does not work, inertia needs to be fought. "When something moves, we take it down," he said. He also highlights how the Navy is encouraging more entrants into the acquisition process and how the Navy partners with industry to scale innovation.

The U.S. Marine Corps is in the middle of modernizing its networks into a single enterprise network to improve identity management and services. The team is upgrading software and hardware to improve latency and cybersecurity, and is leveraging artificial intelligence as part of these modernization plans. At AFCEA West, Shery Thomas, cyber technology officer at the Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command, discusses the state of the Marines' network modernization and the ways his teams are ensuring the network is accessible and secure against future threats.

The Defense Department is undergoing largescale modernization efforts that require close attention to building the infrastructure that delivers information quickly, but also securely. Digital transformation in government requires a mindset that considers all aspects of the organization, partners and stakeholders. While at AFCEA West in San Diego, Equinix Senior Director of Segment Marketing for the Americas D.R. Carlson sat down with us to discuss the common pain points organizations experience in digital transformation journeys, how AI can aid modernization and the ways to bridge legacy and new systems — plus what this all means for defense organizations.

The Navy's systems and data operations exist in a challenging environment that requires strong identity management to secure threats,  partnerships across the Defense Department and technology innovation. At AFCEA West, Navy CIO Jane Rathbun discusses how the service is avoiding common pain points in modernization and introducing more structure, data and flexibility. She also highlights how the service is thinking about innovation and mixing traditional with new approaches to stay ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving technology landscape.

This episode we're diving into zero trust at the Defense Department. Specifically, how that is playing out for the Indo-Pacific region. We recently had the opportunity to connect with several leaders at the AFCEA TechNet Indo-Pacific conference in Honolulu where they shared with us how they're thinking about this quickly changing landscape and what it means for cybersecurity. This includes an update on DOD's review of submitted zero trust implementation plans, and also a peek at some of those plans at the Air Force and Indopacom.  Featured interviews include: Randy Resnick, Director, Zero Trust Portfolio Management Office, DOD. https://governmentciomedia.com/dod-zero-trust-chief-were-start-multi-phased-journey Justin Stolpman, Director, Zero Trust Functional Management Office, Air Force. https://www.governmentciomedia.com/air-force-eyes-next-gen-gateways-amid-zero-trust-plan Paul Nicholson, Deputy CIO and Executive Director of Coalition Communications, Indopacom. https://governmentciomedia.com/look-zero-trust-theater-indopacom

This episode we're diving into some defense technology perspectives, specifically for the Indo-Pacific region. We recently had the opportunity to connect with leaders at the AFCEA TechNet Indo-Pacific conference in Honolulu where they shared how they're thinking about the quickly changing landscape and what it means for defense programs, software factories, cloud modernization and data centricity. Featured interviews include: Rob Vietmeyer, Chief Software Officer at DOD. https://governmentciomedia.com/dod-software-chief-breaks-down-tech-shifts-pacific-region Sharon Woods, Director of DISA's Hosting and Compute Center. https://governmentciomedia.com/disa-hac-director-shares-commercial-cloud-capability-progress-indo-pacific Andrew Hong, Deputy Director of Cyber Portfolio, Defense Innovation Unit. https://governmentciomedia.com/diu-brings-new-mindset-defense-technology Indopacom CIO Gen. Mark Miles. https://governmentciomedia.com/indopacom-cio-looks-data-centricity-assured-command-and-control

The Great Lakes used to have iron ore boats running from Minnesota to Ohio. The ship was not very agile but was unstoppable at 12 knots. There is a close parallel with the federal government. It is such a massive entity that it is unstoppable when it sets its sights on a goal. However, when challenged with new threats, it has a difficult job altering course. Right now, the federal government understands it is being attacked every second. Sometimes, the traditional methods can leave it vulnerable to attack. In 2023 the Executive Office of the President released its strategy for cyber security. The 57-page document includes sixty-five specific actions to change the massive ecosystem of federal technology. Today, we have Jim Richberg from Fortinet in the studio to break it down for listeners. His opinions are based on a twenty-year career in the intelligence community as well as decades of service in many organizations like AFCEA, the World Economic Cybersecurity Leadership Forum, and the Forbes Technology Council. During the interview, Jim gives you the salient points. He suggests that the shift of liability from the government to commercial organizations is a major point. From a software development perspective, Jim Richberg argues that the shift to the left into incorporating security into software design is significant as well. This episode will help you put the new strategy in perspective, and you can see how it impacts your agency. Follow John Gilroy on Twitter @RayGilray Follow John Gilroy on LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-gilroy/ Listen to past episodes of Federal Tech Podcast  www.federaltechpodcast.com

Listen in as your host Just Nate and the one and the only co-host DK is back to chat with great new friends. We are speaking to the NDIA Young Professionals. Dominic Archuleta, Bernadette Maisel and Mairead Levison. The NDIA Rocky Mountain Chapter is very focused on encouraging young professionals to participate in chapter events, run for chapter offices and to network with some of the chapter's 1,400 members. If you have ideas or suggestion on events, activities or actions that support the young professionals in our community we would love to hear from you. The National Defense Industrial Association, Rocky Mountain Chapter is proud to present the 40th Annual Rocky Mountain Ball.  The Chapter will hold the ball at the Double Tree Hilton on 18 August 2022.  As always, this is a black-tie event (mess dress) considered a widely attended gathering with a mixture of retired and active-duty military, civilians, and industry.  Join us on August 18 – 40th Annual Rocky Mountain Ball Date: August 18, 2023Location: Double Tree by Hilton 1775 E Cheyenne Mountain Blvd – (just off I-25 and Circle) At the ball, we will present the Hartinger Award and Patriot Awards again.  Hartinger Award this year honors General James H. Dickinson, Commander, United States Space Command.  Patriot Awards honor military members who have gone above and beyond in the performance of their mission. We will post more information about the Patriot Awards recipients as we get closer to the Ball. We will have dignitaries from all branches of service and some of our sister nations, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. We will also have industry and corporate VIPs in attendance.  Please join us for the IMAGE 2023 Golf Tournament to benefit STEM scholarship activities of our Colorado Springs local chapter of NDIA, AFA, & AFCEA!  Day:  August 16th, 2023Location:  Eisenhower Golf Course, Blue Course, USAFA, Building 3170, USAFA Academy, CO 80840Phone: (719) 333-2606 To learn more about NDIA check them out here: https://ndiarmc.org/ To learn more about NDIA Young Professionals check out their website here: https://ndiarmc.org/young-professionals-committee/ To find out more about the Smalls or become a member, please check us out at www.thesmalls.org To contact Just Nate:  justnate@thesmalls.org  — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thesmalls/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thesmalls/support www.patreon.com/thesmalls --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thesmalls/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thesmalls/support

We close doors and windows and we lock them to keep people out. Our online life, and especially our business' online presence, should be no different. If left open, threats will find a way in, just as they would if you left a physical door unlocked. And whether those threats are in cyber security or in ways that your business is struggling, the result is the same: resilience and a plan for threat defense is needed.Interested in exploring this deeper, I (Kyle) interviewed Jeremy Miller, CEO of Lionfish Cyber Security™. Jeremy shared how so many things are not viewed as threats because we can't see them. He related this to the importance of resiliency and handling threats in your business, whether they be online or simply the tough reality of building a small business with limited resources, limited money and the occasional wrong employee.“You're going to go into this mental funk where you're getting your butt beat every day. Nothing's going right for a while... and you've got to figure out how you're going to bounce back… It's very much a resiliency type endeavor.” -- Jeremy MillerWhat You'll LearnWays we unknowingly let threats inHaving an impactResiliency in businessMake it through the missionSometimes people just aren't a fitTake it times 5Recommended ResourcesConnect with Jeremy MillerJeremy Miller is the CEO of Lionfish Cyber Security™. He served in the Army as a Green Beret in the Special Forces. Jeremy has founded and managed several tech companies that built SaaS software to solve industry issues: Investway and AppealTaxes-Now, to name a few. He now focuses on building a SaaS and service component for cyber security compliance management, apprenticeship management, and more. He is proud to be a part of the cyber war effort and help protect our country, its companies, and their families from those who would do us harm online, or otherwise.In addition, Jeremy has been President for the Special Forces Association Chapter 500 in Indiana for the last few years to help and assist in transitioning soldiers out of the service and providing a support system for them and their families. He is also the current AFCEA chapter Indiana President and on the board of MedStreet.org where physicians volunteer their time to help homeless individuals get back on their feet. Past board positions include Chairman of CYT Indy Christian Youth Theater, VP and Education Chair for Central Indiana Real Estate Investors Association, and Executive Director for VetsInHouses (helping to house homeless vets).When not working, Jeremy enjoys spending time with his wife, two children, and two dogs.Website: lionfishcybersecurity.comEmail: jeremy@lionfishcybersecurity.comLinkedin - Jeremy MillerLinkedin - Lionfish Cyber SecurityInstagramFacebookTwitterCONNECT WITH KYLE MALONEYKyle Maloney is a Senior Account Executive at FullStack PEO and co-host of the Savage to...

In this episode, Wesley Belleman, Consulting Engineer at Colossal LLC,  joins Maria and Gianna to discuss marketing in the federal government.   Wesley began his career in the military in acquisitions, specifically as a cybersecurity operations officer. Here, he was in charge of multi-million dollar programs, acquiring cybersecurity for the space force, and more. From there, he went into Palo Alto Networks and finally Colossal LLC, a value-added reseller providing services specific to the products they sell. Because he has advertised and marketed products internally as a customer in his previous roles, Wesley has a solid understanding of the challenges marketers face. Since the Department of Defense is the country's largest employer, there is a ton of internal business that goes on within it overall. Wesley touches on Kraken, a newly released product that the Space Force is currently leveraging for public defense.  He worked with a team of engineers and contractors to design, build and deploy the product. It required marketing to get people within the space force on board with implementing the product. Wesley also highlights the various AFCEA events coming up nationwide.   When building Kraken, Wesley also had to build consensus internally to get the product off the ground. He began this process by getting certified on the product and fully understanding it inside out.  On that, he leveraged the strength of his colleagues on his team to fulfill different operational roles. The final step was to get to know the customers and what exactly they are looking for. It is crucial to leave your opinions and ideals at the door and understand what the customer wants from a cybersecurity product. He also recommends all founders use the resources and team members they already have. Although it is still growing, Kraken officially launched in 2019. Finally, our guest and hosts engage in a fun guessing game to reveal what career Wesley would pursue outside of the cybersecurity marketing field.     Links: Visit Wesley on LinkedIn. Follow Gianna on LinkedIn. Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn. Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.

The Pentagon has a cyber workforce problem: 30,000 cyber positions remain unfilled, but malicious cyber activity isn't slowing down. Defense cyber leaders warn future conflicts will combine kinetic and information warfare, elevating the importance of a robust cyber workforce. DOD Principal Director for Resources & Analysis Mark Gorak joins us live from AFCEA TechNet Cyber 2023 in Baltimore to discuss these challenges and his plans to address them.

Operating and hardening the Defense Department's networks is a highly complex undertaking. Training and retaining the workforce, keeping up with a constantly changing environment of technology and emerging capabilities and threats are continuous challenges not just for the Army, but also for all the services. Lt. Gen. Maria Barrett, commanding general of Army Cyber Command, discusses how Army Cyber forces are working globally to secure networks, responding to the needs of the warfighter and preparing for the future of cyber warfare.

Live from TechNet Cyber 2023 in Baltimore, Maryland, Defense Department Deputy CIO Lily Zeleke and Chief Software Officer Rob Vietmeyer discuss software factories, DevSecOps, zero trust and the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC). These IT modernization initiatives are transforming the department to be more tech-savvy as information dominance becomes critical to winning future conflicts.

Defense Department CIO John Sherman joins us live from TechNet Cyber 2023 in Baltimore, Maryland, to peel back the layers of the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) and the department's zero trust strategy to show how they're informed by JADC2 priorities and contribute to better data transport and interoperability with coalition partners. Sherman also discusses how cloud initiatives at the military services will complement JWCC efforts.

The Marine Corps is undertaking largescale modernization of its technical capabilities. As Deputy Commandant for Information Lt. Gen. Matthew Glavy puts it, all capabilities cannot be executed without tech especially in an ever-changing environment. Glavy discusses the efforts around computing at the edge, the foundational standpoint of information ahead of the upcoming Marine Corps Warfighting Publication-8 and what all this means for cyberspace operations.

With a challenging maritime computing environment, the Coast Guard supports several missions for the departments of Defense and Homeland Security. Assistant Commandant for C4 & IT Rear Adm. Christopher Bartz discusses his workforce, cybersecurity and tech priorities, including how he's approaching the service's own take on interconnected data systems akin to DOD's JADC2 as well as a new software factory.

BONUS EPISODE: Laura and Kevin Talk AFCEA West.  AFCEA WEST connects the industry professionals who design and build the platforms, equipment and weapons with the designers of communications and technical systems.The premier naval conference and exposition on the West Coast, WEST is now in its 33rd year of bringing military and industry leaders together. Co-sponsored by AFCEA International and the U.S. Naval Institute, WEST is the only event in which the makers of platforms and the designers of technologies can network, discuss and demonstrate their solutions in a single locale.One recurring highlight of WEST is the chance to hear from the Sea Service Chiefs - the Chief of Naval Operations, the Marine Corps Commandant and the Coast Guard Commandant. In addition to the main program, WEST offers three Engagement Theaters: Marine, General, and Information Warfare. These smaller, more intimate venues allow military, government and industry professionals to drill deeper into specific topics and issues. More information about WEST speakers and panel presentations is available online.Wasabi is fundamentally transforming cloud storage with the industry's simplest, fastest and most affordable storage solution. Unlike legacy cloud storage services with confusing storage tiers and complex pricing schemes, Wasabi storage is inherently easy to implement and incredibly cost-effective to scale. 

The age of information superiority is more than cybersecurity. For Department of the Navy CIO Aaron Weis, it's the “golden requirement” to securely move any data from anywhere to anywhere, paving the way for programs like Project Overmatch in the Defense Department's JADC2 concept. Weis discusses the potential game-changing impacts to data as we know it with technologies like Starlink and emerging foundational AI, as well as how he's viewing these in the context of the Navy's approach to tech and “Cyber Ready” strategy.

DISA's Hosting and Compute Center (HaCC) is addressing challenges to various cloud capabilities across the Defense Department. Part of this means enhancing the overall customer experience of acquisition and breaking down silos across teams. HaCC Customer Experience Lead Kayne Kreitzer talks everything CX, including the tools that are helping the community navigate the challenging environment of cloud computing and acquisition such as the Account Tracking and Automation Tool (ATAT) and the DISA Acquisition Package Preparation System (DAPPS).

Entellect is a full life-cycle Business Development boutique company that works with companies to help scale their current processes and resources. Our cadre of experts helps companies scale up by augmenting their current resources and elevating their marketplace status to make them more competitive. In addition, we offer tailored solutions to expand a company's capabilities and efficiently support enduring success. Entellect has aided dozens of businesses in understanding the federal procurement landscape, navigating the competitive terrain, and winning contracts totaling more than $150B in value. We employ government contracting thought-leaders, individuals who share their knowledge with their clients and the GovCon community at large. These thought-leaders speak at AFCEA, regional PTACs, VETS, and other venues on GovCon topics, including partnering, debriefings and protests, capture management, pipeline management, and more. Entellect supports and mentors small businesses to understand and thrive in the GovCon market and provides executive coaching support to SDVOSB, 8(a), WOSB, and other minority-owned small business leaders. We provide various services, including Capture Management, Proposal Management, Strategic Pricing, Contracts Management, Financial Management, and Business Operations Optimization. These services are critical in allowing companies to win bids in the short term and become more efficient, cost-effective firms thereafter. As President of Entellect LLC, Ms. Tan Wilson provides full-lifecycle business support to primarily small businesses. She is an experienced and successful entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in business development and program management across federal and commercial business sectors. As a supporter of the small business community, Ms. Wilson aids businesses in their strategic planning, business development, capture management, proposal management, partnership development, operations support, and leadership coaching. She brings extensive management experience in leading large project teams of diverse stakeholders, ranging from C-level executives. In addition, she was the 2021 Chair of AFCEA's Small Business Committee (SBC), Small Business Person of the Year for 2020, and has provided invaluable support to AFCEA small businesses. Ms. Wilson is also a Board Member on AFCEA International and Emeritus Chair of the SBC. Follow Tan Wilson on LinkedIn for all tips and gems about her experience in #GovCon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanwilsonpmp/ Learn more about Entellect and the work they do: entellectllc.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/governmentcoins/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/governmentcoins/support

Entellect is a full life-cycle Business Development boutique company that works with companies to help scale their current processes and resources. Our cadre of experts helps companies scale up by augmenting their current resources and elevating their marketplace status to make them more competitive. In addition, we offer tailored solutions to expand a company's capabilities and efficiently support enduring success. Entellect has aided dozens of businesses in understanding the federal procurement landscape, navigating the competitive terrain, and winning contracts totaling more than $150B in value. We employ government contracting thought-leaders, individuals who share their knowledge with their clients and the GovCon community at large. These thought-leaders speak at AFCEA, regional PTACs, VETS, and other venues on GovCon topics, including partnering, debriefings and protests, capture management, pipeline management, and more. Entellect supports and mentors small businesses to understand and thrive in the GovCon market and provides executive coaching support to SDVOSB, 8(a), WOSB, and other minority-owned small business leaders. We provide various services, including Capture Management, Proposal Management, Strategic Pricing, Contracts Management, Financial Management, and Business Operations Optimization. These services are critical in allowing companies to win bids in the short term and become more efficient, cost-effective firms thereafter. As President of Entellect LLC, Ms. Tan Wilson provides full-lifecycle business support to primarily small businesses. She is an experienced and successful entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in business development and program management across federal and commercial business sectors. As a supporter of the small business community, Ms. Wilson aids businesses in their strategic planning, business development, capture management, proposal management, partnership development, operations support, and leadership coaching. She brings extensive management experience in leading large project teams of diverse stakeholders, ranging from C-level executives. In addition, she was the 2021 Chair of AFCEA's Small Business Committee (SBC), Small Business Person of the Year for 2020, and has provided invaluable support to AFCEA small businesses. Ms. Wilson is also a Board Member on AFCEA International and Emeritus Chair of the SBC. Follow Tan Wilson on LinkedIn for all tips and gems about her experience in #GovCon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanwilsonpmp/ Learn more about Entellect and the work they do: entellectllc.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/governmentcoins/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/governmentcoins/support

Take a listen as your hosts "Just Nate" and DK sit down and talk with Kimberly Underwood, Senior Editor, SIGNAL Magazine, AFCEA International. Kimberly has been a Senior Editor for AFCEA for over 4 1/2 years. Kimberly has 18+ years' experience as freelance and full-time writer, researcher, and analyst with expertise blending creativity and artistry with more tangible factors, such as research, data analysis, and industry trends. Driven to produce precise articles, biographies, reports, and profiles. The boys and Kimberly talk about everything from Quantum Research International to how we got started on "The Smalls". We all sit down right after the Rocky Mountain Cyber Symposium. To read the SIGNAL Magazine check it out here: https://www.afcea.org/content/?q=signal# To find out more about the Smalls or become a member, please check us out at www.thesmalls.org To contact Just Nate: justnate@thesmalls.org — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thesmalls/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thesmalls/support www.patreon.com/thesmalls --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thesmalls/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thesmalls/support

“I don't care about organization charts, I care about the unity of effort.” In this episode, I cover some of the top quotes I heard while attending the 2022 AFCEA Tidewater Integrated Combat Symposium in Hampton, Virginia. I had a great time hearing from great leaders on what the Air Force needs from the cyberspace operations and information warfare community, and I'm excited for my next chapter in Air Combat Command. https://www.afcea-tidewater.org/ ////////// LINKS: Main - http://www.constantelevation.co Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/ConstantElevation.co Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/gaberock01/ (@gaberock01) YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/GabrielAvilla --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/constantelevation/support

AFCEA TechNet Cyber 2022 marks another return to in-person events, and Senior Researcher Kate Macri is here to discuss top takeaways and themes from the conference. Topics include ICAM solutions, zero trust, cyber operations and what it's like to be in-person again after two years of online panels.

Take a listen as your hosts "Just Nate" and DK sit down and talk with Kimberly Underwood, Senior Editor, SIGNAL Magazine, AFCEA International. Kimberly has been a Senior Editor for AFCEA for over 4 1/2 years. Kimberly has 18+ years' experience as freelance and full-time writer, researcher, and analyst with expertise blending creativity and artistry with more tangible factors, such as research, data analysis, and industry trends. Driven to produce precise articles, biographies, reports, and profiles. The boys and Kimberly talk about everything from Quantum Research International to how we got started on "The Smalls". We all sit down right after the Rocky Mountain Cyber Symposium. To read the SIGNAL Magazine check it out here: https://www.afcea.org/content/?q=signal# To find out more about the Smalls or become a member, please check us out at www.thesmalls.org To contact Just Nate: justnate@thesmalls.org — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thesmalls/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thesmalls/support www.patreon.com/thesmalls --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thesmalls/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thesmalls/support

Christy Hollywood (CP APMP) leads Hollywood & Associates, providing strategy, capture, and proposal advisory services. Christy Roach Hollywood, CP APMP, brings 25 years of capture-related experience in federal and commercial markets. Previously, Christy led and oversaw capture teams at KPMG, RTI International, Noblis, Cardno International Development, and PATH. A long-time APMP member, she also participates in the Strategy and Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP), AFCEA, and Project Management Institute. Christy holds a BA from University of Virginia and an MBA (strategy concentration) from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.​Support the show (https://pod.fan/scribble-talk)

Wer kennt es nicht? Man fährt morgens zur Arbeit, hat viele Termine und der Tag müsste eigentlich 25 Stunden haben, damit man die ganze Arbeit erledigen kann. Doch es ist wichtig zu wissen, wann man aufhören muss zu arbeiten und wann man anfangen muss sich zu entspannen. Marianna Schwarz, Innovation & Technology Engagement Manager bei der BWI GmbH und Vorstandsmitglied bei der AFCEA, erzählt im Interview wie sie ihre Arbeit, ihre Familie und ihre Freizeit balanciert und gibt Tipps, wie man eine gute Work-Life-Balance erreicht.

Anyone who thinks they've got cybersecurity chops can prove it in an upcoming challenge competition. Sponsored by Microsoft, the challenge is hosted by AFCEA and the Intelligence and National Security Alliance -- INSA. You'll have to hurry, this year as Emerging Professionals in the Intelligence Community, or EPIC, launches in just days. Federal Drive with Tom Temin got details from Microsoft Federal Senior Account Executive Niloo Norton, and Account Technology Strategist Joel Day.

LTC Olivia J. Nunn (Washington DC-Baltimore Area) |Senior Marketing Manager | Social Media Strategist | Podcast Host | Diversity, Inclusion & Equality | Public Speaker | Veteran Affairs Experienced Director Of Communication with a demonstrated history of working in the government relations industry. Skilled in developing, executing, and assessing strategic communication, crisis communications, social media, media relations, and operations management. Strong media and communication professional with a master's degree focused on Public Relations & Corporate Communications from Georgetown University. Lieutenant Colonel Olivia Nunn commissioned as an ROTC Military Graduate through Radford University ROTC program in 2001. LTC Nunn has served in command and staff positions within the United States Army, including three combat deployments to Iraq. LTC Nunn developed the United States Military Academy at West Point's social media presence and redesigned the Academy's website while assigned to the academy. LTC Nunn was responsible for developing and mentoring cadets as an assistant triathlon coach of the West Point Triathlon Team. LTC Nunn has served as an official Army spokesperson, lead Strategic Communication Planner, and Executive Officer to the Chief of Army Public Affairs. She assumed duties as the Director of Communication, Soldier for Life in September 2018. LTC Nunn also serves as the Podcast Host for the U.S. Army Soldier for Life podcast series, the lead for Women Initiatives, Diversity, and Inclusion, and social media manager. LTC Nunn's awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal with three Campaign Stars, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Army Overseas Ribbon, Meritorious Unit Citation, and the Army Staff Identification Badge. LTC Nunn holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from Radford University, Radford, VA, a Master of Science in Environmental Management from Webster University, and a Master of Professional Studies in Public Relations and Corporate Communications from Georgetown University. She is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, the Joint Intermediate Public Affairs Course, the Public Affairs Qualification Course, the Chemical Officer Career Course, and the Chemical Officer Basic Course. LinkedIn Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-j-nunn/ | Soldier for Life |soldierforlife.army.mil | S2 Analytical Solutions https://s2analyticalsolutions.com/ | AFCEA https://www.afcea.org/site/ (Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mettle-of-honor/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mettle-of-honor/support

Guests: Rich Fly & Sgt. Castillo

Josh Datko, Founder of Cryptotronix, is our feature guest this week and are interviewed by Jason Jaques. News from Outrider, Velocity Global, Cloudrise, Red Canary, Coalfire, Lares and a lot more! Support us on Patreon! Fun swag available - all proceeds will directly support the Colorado = Security infrastructure. Come join us on the new Colorado = Security Slack channel to meet old and new friends. Sign up for our mailing list on the main site to receive weekly updates - https://www.colorado-security.com/. If you have any questions or comments, or any organizations or events we should highlight, contact Alex and Robb at info@colorado-security.com This week’s news: Join the Colorado = Security Slack channel Denver's Coors Field will host MLB All-Star game Colorado is on track to take its most significant step toward a Front Range passenger train system Outrider and Rite-Hite partner to accelerate the adoption of yard automation With $100M funding and acquisition, Denver's Velocity Global prepares to hit $1B in revenue Cloudrise moves HQ to Grand Junction Data privacy bill could affect consumer-facing companies across Colorado Meet the Winners of AFCEA’s Rocky Mountain Cyberspace Symposium Capture the Flag Automatically block IPs and domains with Red Canary + Microsoft Waking up to the new realities of privacy risk and the need for focused expertise Emails and Malicious Macros - What Can Go Wrong? Job Openings: Holland & Hart - CISO Lunchbox - VP of Infrastructure and Security Alteryx - Manager, Cyber Security Operations Nutanix - Manager, Security Engineering CommonSpirit Health - Privacy Info Security Analyst II Workiva - Cyber Security Compliance Engineer RingCentral - Security Engineer Red Canary - Information Security Specialist Redwood Trust - Information Security Analyst McAfee - Sales Engineer - West Upcoming Events: This Week and Next: CTA - COLORADO PRIVACY ACT WEBINAR - 4/13 ISSA Denver - April Chapter Meeting - 4/14 ASIS - WIS : COFFEE CHAT WITH KATIE JUMP - 4/15 Put the "Sec" in DevOps - Security's role in Software Quality - 4/16 ISSA C.Springs - April Meeting - 4/20 CSA - April Meeting - 4/20 ISSA COS Cyberfocus Days - 4/20-22 OWASP - April Meeting - 4/21 ISACA Denver - April General Meeting - 4/21-23 View our events page for a full list of upcoming events * Thanks to CJ Adams for our intro and exit! If you need any voiceover work, you can contact him here at carrrladams@gmail.com. Check out his other voice work here. * Intro and exit song: "The Language of Blame" by The Agrarians is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Exchange Server patching is going well, they say, but they also say that patching isn’t enough. Crooks are continuing to look for unpatched instances, and even in the patched systems, you’ve got to check to make sure the bad actors have been found and ejected. AFCEA and Shell both disclose being affected by third-party breaches. Citizen Lab sees no particular problem with TikTok. Ben Yelin ponders possible US response to the Microsoft Exchange Server attacks. Our guest is Alex Gizis from Connectify using VPNs to thwart government internet restrictions in Myanmar. And a major manga fan site is down. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/55

In today's Federal Newscast, two large government conference organizers say the third party vendor they use for conference registration was the victim of a ransomware attack.

This is a special 90-minute bonus episode of the Cognitive Crucible. On October 29th 2020, IPA and AFCEA's ALAMO Chapter co-hosted a Virtual Panel on Combatting Disinformation in a Competitive Information Environment. The star-studded panel of senior government personnel and thought leaders spotlights the current pivot toward a convergence approach to improve our competitive advantage across the strategic and operational environments, most specifically in the cyber-enabled information space. The event slide deck is available here. Across the National and Defense enterprise, agencies and organizations are reprioritizing and reorganizing to more effectively compete in a competitive and complex global information environment. The Nation is being increasingly impacted by cutting-edge technology and sophisticated influence activities to shape perceptions, decisions and behavior. The discussion is framed by the recently released Defense Science Board study regarding global competition in the information environment, includes ongoing efforts, and as well as new initiatives to support USG and DOD priorities in cognitive security such establishing a Cognitive Security Proving Ground, re-establishing the Phoenix Challenge information operations conference series, and discussion of the newly-established Principal Information Operations Advisor to the Secretary of Defense. Moderated by Mr. Austin Branch; the star-studded panelists are: Ms. Lynne Patrick, Technical Director at Sixteenth Air Force Joint Base San Antonio Dr. Brian Pierce, Visiting Research Scientist at the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS) LTG (RET.) Ed Cardon, Former Commander of US Army Cyber Command, and Commander JTF ARES Mr. Rob “Bus” Bussian, Director for Cyber and Strategic Enabling in the Concepts, Development and Management Office under the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force Mr. Bob Pearson, Social media expert, author, professor, digital consultant Mr. Joe Kelly, Applied Research Lab for Intelligence and Security and President of Pointweaver, LLC For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, you can connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell on LinkedIn.

Sit down with Christopher Gorog as he interviews Gretchen Bliss, director of Cybersecurity programs at UCCS. They discuss campuswide cyber strategy, including program components involved and how it affects events, as well as the building of NCC and Space ISAC. Listen and join in on the conversation!   This episode is brought to you by UCCS   Cybersecurity at UCCS is expanding and growing.  In addition to the long-standing Certificate, Bachelor’s Masters and PhD Cybersecurity programs in Engineering, new programs have launched in the College of Business focused on Cybersecurity Management.  UCCS is working with industry, government and other educational institutions across the country to create pathways to fill the overwhelming need for cybersecurity professionals.  Just this fall, UCCS partnered with AFCEA and the National Cyber League on the Pikes Peak Cyber Challenge where USAFA, PPCC and UCCS Cyber teams competed.  On 13 November UCCS is hosting an “Ethics in Cybersecurity” virtual event and welcome anyone to attend (register at https://cvent.me/MQAq5b).  On December 5, this competition is expanding across the region in partnership with AFCEA and Deloitte for the Rocky Mountain Cyber Challenge where 30 teams of 5 students from colleges and universities in CO, UT, NM and WY can register to compete for great prizes.  (register here https://www.eventsquid.com/event/11072) In addition to events, UCCS is receiving grants as well to develop programs to support the exponentially growing demand for a large cybersecurity workforce. UCCS College of Business was granted $6M from the Department of Labor to establish a Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program.  UCCS is also the designated Hub for the Northwest Region for the National Security Agency Center of Academic Excellence Program expanding a ecosystem of cybersecurity education from K-12 through Post Doctorate.   Visit our sponsors: Cyber Resilience Institute BlockFrame Inc. SecureSet Academy Murray Security Services

Co-host Benny White - Guests: Rich Fly with AFCEA and Alain Espinosa with INFRAGARD

First up we have Sanford Ching, Director of AFCEA, and he’s here to tell us about AFCEA’s STEM grants. Then we have Alec Wagner, Director of Purple Prize and Kilo Hoku, Preston Tran, co-founder of Box Farm Labs and Joshua Parker recently won the Kipuka Innovation Challenge with Hawaiian Hydropower, talk about native culture and … Continue reading "Episode 630: AFCEA STEM Grants + Purple Maia – Sept 23, 2020"

First up we have Mary Smith from Hawaii Pacific University and AFCEA, here to tell us about the Merit Scholarship Award Applications. The application due date is July 31, 2020. Then we’re joined by Brandon Kurisu from Upspring Media and Michael Kamida from Nuix to talk about using Aloha Trace, Safe Path and contact tracing. … Continue reading "Episode 617: AHEF Scholarships + Aloha Trace & Safe Path – June 24, 2020"

Carl Dickson is the founder of CapturePlanning.com and PropLIBRARY. Carl is a proposal manager, writer, trainer, and coach. A career spanning 30 years, Carl has published over a thousand articles, whitepapers, books, and training materials. The articles he publishes reach over 100,000 professionals every week and over 7 million professionals have visited his websites.As a speaker, Carl has presented at conferences and events sponsored by (APMP); Society for Marketing Professional Services; Marketing Research Association; Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Assoc. (AFCEA); FOSE; Deltek; Fairfax County Community Business Partnership; Government Contracting Institute; and the Washington DC Office of Contracting and Procurement.

Guests include Rich Fly and Paul Capili with AFCEA

In this episode, the smalls CEO and COO interview the Rocky Mountain AFCEA Chapter President, Lt Col Vanessa Johnson, USAF (ret). Vanessa explains the purpose of AFCEA and what there Rocky Mountain Chapter is trying to accomplish in the community. New events, expansion and even future happy hours are discussed. The best quote in this episode is "Your Net-worth is only as good as your Network". Listen in as your host Just Nate and Dennis pull on this thread a bit. For more information on the Rocky Mountain AFCEA chapter or how to become a member, please visit there website at: https://www.afcearockymtn.org/ Don't forget for more content, events and everything to do with the small business ecosystem visit our website at: https://thesmalls.org/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thesmalls/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thesmalls/support

Few, if any, are left at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s security operations center who just stare at screens looking for cyber anomalies. Instead of using people, USCIS automated those basic functions in order to free up valuable people to work on more complex cybersecurity challenge. Shane Barney, the chief information security officer at USCIS at the Department of Homeland Security, and Togi Andrews, the CISO at FEMA, joined Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller for a panel during the recent AFCEA Bethesda breakfast to discuss the issue. Hear more on Ask the CIO.

Eric Strauss, Tan Wilson and Elizabeth Moon, members of AFCEA's small business committe, join host Mark Amtower on this week's Amtower Off Center, to discuss the committee's mission, goals, and its plans for 2020.

In this episode of #IMM, Christine chats with Bob Ackerman, George Seffers and Kim Underwood of Signal Magazine/AFCEA.

It was a busy week for interviews at Technado. First, Pradeo’s CTO Vivien Raoul warned the team about an Android app that was collecting more data than it should. Next, The EVP of the Fort Knox Gold Vault Chapter of AFCEA Kathryn Thompson joined to talk about AFCEA’s efforts for diversity and inclusion. Finally, Bandura Cyber’s CSO Todd Weller explained the importance of threat intelligence-driven network security.

It was a busy week for interviews at Technado. First, Pradeo’s CTO Vivien Raoul warned the team about an Android app that was collecting more data than it should. Next, The EVP of the Fort Knox Gold Vault Chapter of AFCEA Kathryn Thompson joined to talk about AFCEA’s efforts for diversity and inclusion. Finally, Bandura Cyber’s CSO Todd Weller explained the importance of threat intelligence-driven network security.

It was a busy week for interviews at Technado. First, Pradeo’s CTO Vivien Raoul warned the team about an Android app that was collecting more data than it should. Next, The EVP of the Fort Knox Gold Vault Chapter of AFCEA Kathryn Thompson joined to talk about AFCEA’s efforts for diversity and inclusion. Finally, Bandura Cyber’s CSO Todd Weller explained the importance of threat intelligence-driven network security.

It was a busy week for interviews at Technado. First, Pradeo’s CTO Vivien Raoul warned the team about an Android app that was collecting more data than it should. Next, The EVP of the Fort Knox Gold Vault Chapter of AFCEA Kathryn Thompson joined to talk about AFCEA’s efforts for diversity and inclusion. Finally, Bandura Cyber’s CSO Todd Weller explained the importance of threat intelligence-driven network security.

It was a busy week for interviews at Technado. First, Pradeo’s CTO Vivien Raoul warned the team about an Android app that was collecting more data than it should. Next, The EVP of the Fort Knox Gold Vault Chapter of AFCEA Kathryn Thompson joined to talk about AFCEA’s efforts for diversity and inclusion. Finally, Bandura Cyber’s CSO Todd Weller explained the importance of threat intelligence-driven network security.

It was a busy week for interviews at Technado. First, Pradeo’s CTO Vivien Raoul warned the team about an Android app that was collecting more data than it should. Next, The EVP of the Fort Knox Gold Vault Chapter of AFCEA Kathryn Thompson joined to talk about AFCEA’s efforts for diversity and inclusion. Finally, Bandura Cyber’s CSO Todd Weller explained the importance of threat intelligence-driven network security.

Gordon Bitko, the chief information officer of the FBI, said the bureau is relaying on a combination of tools, training and shared services to better manage data.

Big thanks to Katie Helwig, Director, Small Business Programs, AFCEA International talks The Sharing Economy Getting Involved and; Doing business with the Government as a Veteran or Military Spouse owned business Check out www.afcea.org for more information on their July Small Business Innovation Event.

This week on Amtower Off Center, host Mark Amtower talks about some of the big issues facing small contractors with Elizabeth Moon, AFCEA's Small Business program Manager, USmax Corp. President and CEO David Pak, and Eric Strauss, director of Business Development at Connected Logistics.

Read the complete transcript on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Nathan Jones is the Vice President of Federal at Red Hat and was one of the first sales reps hired by Red Hat. Before that, he had sales roles at Mercury Interactive and EMC. He's the president of the AFCEA, Washington DC chapter.

What is the value of face-to-face networking and how can AFCEA help in that effort? Find out when Katie Helwig, director of Small Business Programs at AFCEA, and Eric Strauss, director of Business Development for Connected Logistics, joins host Mark Amtower on this week’s Amtower Off Center.

Read the complete transcript to this podcast on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Gary Newgaard is the Vice President for Public Sector for Pure Storage. Gary was previously the vice president of public sector hardware sales for Oracle in North America. Prior to joining Oracle he served in senior level positions at PIXIA, EMC and Compaq, leading results driven sales divisions with consistent revenue growth. He has also been successful as an entrepreneur building startup organizations such as Paragon Systems and Intelligent Enterprise Solutions. He's a multiple recipient of Federal Computer Week's Fed 100 award and the industry advisory council's prestigious Communications award. He's also a long standing member of AFCEA's board of directors. Find Gary on LinkedIN!

Delali Dzirasa is Founder and President of Fearless Solutions, a software firm based out of Baltimore, MD. Delali is a Certified Scrum Master and PMP® with a decade of experience leading agile software teams and programs. . Delali Dzirasa graduated with a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in 2004. Delali always had a passion for entrepreneurship and after working at a handful of technology firms, he founded Fearless in 2009.  Fearless is a company driven by delivering innovative products and services to our customers that make a difference.   Delali strives to make a difference in technology as well as his surrounding community. He serves as a Board Member on the UMBC Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Visiting Committee and an active volunteer and member of the Central Maryland Chapter of AFCEA.    He currently resides with his wife and son in Baltimore City, where he is passionate about increasing the rate of city youth heading into STEM based fields.    When Delali isn’t busy running Fearless (rarely), he enjoys working out and hanging out with friends and family. He can be reached at delalid@fearsol.com.

This week on Dave and Gunnar: Oracle plays with science, Amazon plays with the US Postal Service, and everyone plays with tracking you like a criminal. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes. FLIGHTMARE! Inflight cell calling debuts, dealing heavy blow to quality of life U.S. Reaches Preliminary Deal in American-US Airways Merger Lawsuit Adam Clater will soon be able to recharge his beard phone and guinea pig with microwaves HT Jason Calloway: Beard followup badBIOS and more apocalyptic movie plot ideas, part III: Russia: Hidden chips ‘launch spam attacks from irons’ Sorry state of baseband OSes Larry Ellison misunderstands science and economics Amazon Is Closer Than Ever to Running the U.S. Postal Service Did your Adobe password leak? Now you and 150m others can check Anatomy of a password disaster – Adobe’s giant-sized cryptographic blunder Facebook makes Adobe fans change their horrible, horrible passwords How stores use your phone’s WiFi to track your shopping habits Attention, Shoppers: Store Is Tracking Your Cell Google Is Testing A Program That Tracks You Everywhere You Go You Are a Rogue Device: A New Apparatus Capable of Spying on You Has Been Installed Throughout Downtown Seattle. Very Few Citizens Know What It Is, and Officials Don’t Want to Talk About It. Google updates Google+ Hangouts updated… for one tap location sharing More good news: Facebook patented making government data handoffs easier Toronto tailor introduces bulletproof three-piece suits Dave at SC13 in Denver November 17-22 Gunnar to deliver Ironman 90 minute keynote Alamo ACE (AFCEA) in San Antonio on November 19-20 OpenShift’s everyday low prices: Announcing 50% Lower Gear Prices, More Countries, and 2GB Gears in the Silver Plan Happy 10th birthday Fedora! SELinux coloring book HT Tony James: Automated auditing the system using SCAP Rapport with panelists is more important than knowing what you’re going to say Bonus tips: Confessions of a Public Speaker Cutting Room Floor HT Nathan: Boston Symphony mourns JFK The 1960s Superhero Who Was Powered by Smoking Awesome: Vocals only version of Happy Together by The Turtles And lots more including Alice in Chains, 11 yo Michael Jackson, Beatles, and Dire Straits! Universal Translator? Turn your Raspberry Pi into a Translator with Speech Recognition and Playback 39 Raspberry Pi 3D Scanner The Automata of Terror: Cinema’s 8 Scariest Robots Cognitive surplus: London Underground Simulator game review Related: New York Bus: The Simulation Goodwill Computer Museum in Austin, TX! And if you are near Bletchley Park check out The National Museum of Computing And if you are near Fort Meade check out The National Cryptologic Museum We Give Thanks Jason Calloway, Tony James, and Nathan for giving us ideas to talk about!

This week, Dave and Gunnar talk about badBIOS and unreliable narrators, 85% of Android is crap, warrant canaries, and special guest star Adam Clater talking about OpenShift and ownCloud Subscribe via RSS or iTunes. badBIOS disputed Analysis is wrong Researcher skepticism Almost related: Motorola wants you to tattoo a smartphone microphone onto your throat Cloud to Butt 2.0: xkcd substitutions Chrome extension Risk Walking Dead Survival Edition Gunnar is enjoying his Nexus 5 and its inability to receive email using client certificates Protect your Android phone by getting rid of its crapware Power Plants and Other Vital Systems Are Totally Exposed on the Internet Google aims to replace car dashboard buttons with Minority Report hand gestures Frenzy Is a Private, Dropbox-Powered Social Network A Red Hat Solutions Architect Manager We Like: Adam Clater because he tells us about OwnCloud on OpenShift Red Hat Government Symposium was outstanding. A bunch of great announcements from CFPB, DOE, and ODNI! D&G Show video edition! Challenges in the cloud How does PaaS differ from IaaS? Why is PaaS better for managers? How PaaS changes the way developers work co-starring Bob Kozdemba Red Hat Summit CFP extended to November 19 for customers and partners Red Hat Innovation Awards nominations open until December 13 Dave will be at Supercomputing 2013 November 17-22 Gunnar will be at JBoss Day in Austin on November 12 C5ISR Summit in Charleston on November 13 Alamo ACE (AFCEA) in San Antonio on November 19 Word of the Week: “Warrant Canary” Apple just used one. How to mostly dial with Google Voice with a correct call log for later Hadoop analysis Voice Plus GV Outbound Call Log Repair CallTrack logs to your calendar Hadoop 10 Tips for an Awesome Coffee Meeting Cutting Room Floor HT Noel Weichbrodt: More hipster than you: the carbon-fiber penny farthing Why we should get rid of Daylight Savings Time The most terrifying reading of Goodnight Moon you’ll ever hear Grave markers embedded in airport runway Nine worst doctored photos of Chinese officials We Give Thanks Adam Clater for guest starring! Gunnar’s mom for teaching us about warrant canaries

This week, Dave and Gunnar talk about alien invasion, BIOS invasion, privacy invasion, and invasion of common sense at FAA. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes. He’s a macaroni. History of Rome is amazing. Check out Revolutions! Gunnar bait of the other week, part 2 Deep Brain Stimulation stimulator goes somewhere other than your head and the leads go in your brain — don’t let some fly by night surgeon tell you otherwise Remember the Milk is forgetting to Remember the Customers: Andrew @ Remember The Milk OCT 29, 2013 | 08:56PM EDT Hi Gunnar, Thanks for your feedback! I'll make sure that the development team gets your thoughts for review. Feedback is very important to us, and we review feature requests on a regular basis as we work to improve Remember The Milk. If you're interested in Remember The Milk news, please keep an eye on our blog for any future announcements: http://blog.rememberthemilk.com/ Or, follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rememberthemilk If there's anything else I can help you with, please let me know. New FAA Guidelines Permit More Device Use, All The Way From Take-Off To Landing Also, TSA pre-crime Book of the week: The New Kingmakers: How Developers Conquered the World http://resume.github.io can build an objective git-powered resume for any GitHub user Re-read Garann Means’ Meritocracy rant HT Travis Kepley: Cloud-to-Butt Chrome extension HT Kelsey D. Atherton: How We Killed Privacy — in 4 Easy Steps: Stop blaming the NSA. We did this to ourselves. Related: Former spy chief overheard giving off-the-record interview from Acela train War of the Worlds radio broadcast was 75 years ago Local (Akron) perspective Let’s ask Wikipedia Spooky news for Halloween: Meet “badBIOS,” the mysterious Mac and PC malware that jumps airgaps Thoughts on Intel’s upcoming Software Guard Extensions (Part 2) Red Hat Summit Call for Proposals closes November 5 Red Hat Government Symposium is on for November 6! JBoss Day in Austin on November 12 C5ISR Summit in Charleston on November 13 Alamo ACE (AFCEA) in San Antonio on November 19 Origin of the word dude Deconstructing Led Zeppelin’s Classic Song ‘Ramble On’ Track by Track: Guitars, Bass, Drums & Vocals Cutting Room Floor Baby Carrots: A BAG OF LIES How Reid Hoffman pitched LinkedIn, an annotated deck AT&T Corporate. Video about. UNIX. 19th century 9 lb multitool with pistol We Give Thanks Matt Micene as usual Travis Kepley Shawn Wells, for being the AV guy Jennifer of US Airways for carrying Dave’s library book through the airport

This week, Dave and Gunnar talk about: turning people into products, patches into pounds and pence, protecting poultry, priorities, primary patchers on projects, and PDFs into poison. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes. How do you say “infringement” in Farsi? Gunnar: There’s an app for that HT @CampCatastrophe: Deep Brain Stimulation implant “about the size of a stopwatch” Almost related: LG jumps on the vestibulo-ocular reflex chicken powered steady cam bandwagon Not related: Chicken safety vest HT Keenan: First Amendment expert Eugene Volokh on Sufficient Speech vs. Facebook HT Matt Micene: If you use Google services, you could become an ad next month Step 1: Opt out here Step 2: Enable Adblock Plus or Adblock Edge Moral of the story: don’t get Scroogled. At least Microsoft isn’t doing creepy tracking. Oh wait, never mind. LinkedIn makes hacker’s dreams come true State Decoded has the SCAP Security Guide baked in! HT Mil-OSS: Google Offers New Bounty Program For Securing Open-Source Software News Flash: Oracle Still Hates Open Source Software Mil-OSS weighs in Nominations Now Open for 2014 Red Hat Innovation Awards Red Hat Summit Call for Proposals closes November 5 Red Hat Government Symposium is on for November 6! JBoss Day in Austin on November 12 C5ISR Summit in Charleston on November 13 Alamo ACE (AFCEA) in San Antonio on November 19 Cantas = open source Trello Matt Micene and Dave celebrate National Cybersecurity Awareness Month with a blog post RHEL 5.9 to 5.10 risk report Measure it yourself RIP acroread OpenStack Havana is out! Activity dashboard RHEV 3.3 beta has OpenStack goodness too HT Yasir Syeed: OpenStack threatens Paas? Customers and partners we like Emergent and Red Hat Announce Cloud Collaboration Around OpenShift PaaS The Navy’s newest warship is powered by Linux The Eisenhower Matrix The Ten Most Expensive Vehicles To Operate Cutting Room Floor Pizza Hat HUD for your car Raspberry Pi internet controlled whoopie cushion Build your own Arduino powered Enigma machine Open source HTML5 Full Screen Mario Run Linux on an emulated MIPS processor… in your browser w/JavaScript! (Securely?) Boot to Zork using UEFI A Klingon Christmas Carol performed in the original Klingon with English supertitles and narrative analysis from the Vulcan Institute of Cultural Anthropology Jim Henson’s Muppet Computer from 1963 The scientific proof why Dave is addicted to Nacho Cheese Doritos 27 Actors Who Got Their Starts on Miami Vice We Give Thanks @CampCatastrophe, Keenan, Matt Micene, Mil-OSS, and Yasir Syeed for encouraging us by giving us items to discuss!

Data mining is the process of posing queries and extracting patterns, often previously unknown from large quantities of data using pattern matching or other reasoning techniques. Data mining has many ap-plications in security including for national security as well as for cyber security. The threats to national security include attacking buildings, destroying critical infrastructures such as power grids and telecom-munication systems. Data mining techniques are being investigated to find out who the suspicious people are and who is capable of carrying out terrorist activities. Cyber security is involved with protecting the computer and network systems against corruption due to Trojan horses, worms and viruses. Data mining is also being applied to provide solutions such as intrusion detection and auditing. The first part of the presentation will discuss my joint research with Prof. Latifur Khan and our students at the University of Texas at Dallas on data mining for cyber security applications For example; anomaly detection techniques could be used to detect unusual patterns and behaviors. Link analysis may be used to trace the viruses to the perpetrators. Classification may be used to group various cyber attacks and then use the profiles to detect an attack when it occurs. Prediction may be used to determine potential future attacks depending in a way on information learnt about terrorists through email and phone conversations. Data mining is also being applied for intrusion detection and auditing. Other applications include data mining for malicious code detection such as worm detection and managing firewall policies.This second part of the presentation will discuss the various types of threats to national security and de-scribe data mining techniques for handling such threats. Threats include non real-time threats and real-time threats. We need to understand the types of threats and also gather good data to carry out mining and obtain useful results. The challenge is to reduce false positives and false negatives. The third part of the presentation will discuss some of the research challenges. We need some form of real-time data mining, that is, the results have to be generated in real-time, we also need to build models in real-time for real-time intrusion detection. Data mining is also being applied for credit card fraud de-tection and biometrics related applications. While some progress has been made on topics such as stream data mining, there is still a lot of work to be done here. Another challenge is to mine multimedia data including surveillance video. Finally, we need to maintain the privacy of individuals. Much research has been carried out on privacy preserving data mining. In summary, the presentation will provide an overview of data mining, the various types of threats and then discuss the applications of data mining for malicious code detection and cyber security. Then we will discuss the consequences to privacy. About the speaker: Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham joined The University of Texas at Dallas in October 2004 as a Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Cyber Security Research Center in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. She is an elected Fellow of three professional organizations: the IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers), the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) and the BCS (British Computer Society) for her work in data security. She received the IEEE Computer Society's prestigious 1997 Technical Achievement Award for "outstanding and innovative contributions to secure data management."Dr Thuraisingham's work in information security and information management has resulted in over 70 journal articles, over 200 refereed conference papers and workshops, and three US patents. She is the au-thor of seven books in data management, data mining and data security including one on data mining for counter-terrorism and another on Database and Applications Security and is completing her eighth book on Trustworthy Semantic Web. She has given over 30 keynote presentations at various technical confer-ences and has also given invited talks at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and at the United Nations on Data Mining for counter-terrorism. She serves (or has served) on editorial boards of leading research and industry journals and currently serves as the Editor in Chief of Computer Stan-dards and Interfaces Journal. She is also an Instructor at AFCEA's (Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association) Professional Development Center and has served on panels for the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and the National Academy of Sciences. Dr Thuraisingham is the Founding President of "Bhavani Security Consulting" - a company providing services in consulting and training in Cyber Security and Information TechnologyPrior to joining UTD, Thuraisingham was an IPA (Intergovernmental Personnel Act) at the National Sci-ence Foundation from the MITRE Corporation. At NSF she established the Data and Applications Secu-rity Program and co-founded the Cyber Trust theme and was involved in inter-agency activities in data mining for counter-terrorism. She has been at MITRE since January 1989 and has worked in MITRE's Information Security Center and was later a department head in Data and Information Management as well as Chief Scientist in Data Management. She has served as an expert consultant in information secu-rity and data management to the Department of Defense, the Department of Treasury and the Intelligence Community for over 10 years. Thuraisingham's industry experience includes six years of research and development at Control Data Corporation and Honeywell Inc. Thuraisingham was educated in the United Kingdom both at the University of Bristol and at the Univer-sity of Wales.