The line between cybersecurity that keeps the Federal civilian government humming toward pandemic recovery – and the mayhem threatened by mounting waves of nation-state and criminal cyber assaults on government networks – in large measure passes through the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program run by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
At MeriTalk’s May 12 CDM Central – The Age of the Cyber Defenders virtual conference, hear from top Federal security officials how the CDM program is working to improve Federal agency cyber defenses, and how that effort stars not only in the current fight against cyber adversaries but also the longer-term solution of zero trust security.
For the view from the very top level of Federal security strategy, the complimentary conference kicks off at 9 a.m. EDT on May 12 with a keynote from the new Federal Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Chris DeRusha. With the release of the Biden administration’s new cybersecurity executive order imminent, DeRusha is on the leading edge of both big-picture security policy development, and all the details of policy implementation.
Next up is a keynote from CDM Program Manager Kevin Cox, who has shepherded the program since its relative infancy five years ago, and will provide the ultimate insider’s update of program aims, agency implementation progress, and future directions.
Cox is moving soon to join the Justice Department as deputy CIO, and his remarks are likely to touch on a wide range of topics. Watch for the latest on the leadership transition; crucial progress that agencies are making in implementing the first two of four key CDM capabilities; dashboard infrastructure upgrades; and the very latest on pilot efforts that his office is undertaking with agencies on network security and data protection management, and cloud and mobile security.
Then attendees will hear the latest from Sean Connelly – Senior Cybersecurity Architect at CISA and manager of its Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) program – on developments with TIC 3.0 use cases that agencies can employ to strengthen their security, and how the path to generational security improvement points toward zero trust.
From the Federal agency front lines, Education Department CISO and Director of Information Assurance Services Steven Hernandez, and former Department of Homeland Security CIO Karen Evans will highlight exclusive cyber chat sessions with top program executives from the nation’s leading security technology providers to discuss the situation on the ground, and what steps need to be taken next.
When the program concludes at lunchtime, we promise that attendees will emerge armed with the freshest possible intelligence on the CDM program, agency progress toward security goals, and the Federal government’s larger security aims.
We invite you to invest the morning of May 12 with MeriTalk, and you can access all the registration details here. CPE credits are available.
