To The Point Cybersecurity Podcast: Does government need a Cyber 911?

Congress recently passed long-awaited legislation which created the first cyber-specific agency within DHS, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). While the decision is a sign of great progress for the government, whether CISA will translate into real security improvements for agencies is still unknown.

This week on the podcast, we had the pleasure of hearing from former FBI cyber agent (and technical consultant to the TV show Mr. Robot), Andre McGregor. Mr. McGregor discusses whether CISA will improve the government’s incident response capabilities and mitigate ongoing attacks, and his perspectives on how the federal government has matured regarding cross-agency coordination and response to cyber-attacks.  

He offers firsthand experience of how he proactively coordinated efforts across agencies as Iranian hackers attempted to hack the Bowman Avenue Dam during his time in the FBI and insights into the possible impacts of a new paper from cyber think tank New American. The paper calls for the creation of a national, volunteer Civilian Cyber Corps that could conduct security exercises, offer training and even step in during a cyber-attack.

A move to consolidating efforts to DHS may be a challenge for other agencies who will have to give up cyber resources and personnel. Even with a creation of a cyber-specific agency, it’s still unclear who civilians will call in the case of a cybersecurity threat.

Tune in to this episode of #TTPCyber for a unique perspective from Andre McGregor on what DHS’s new CISA agency means for government…and some behind the scenes facts from his work on the hit show Mr. Robot!