Don’t Get PWNED

Building a Culture of Cybersecurity

The Aspen Institute’s Cybersecurity & Technology Program welcomes you to its breakfast discussion on Wednesday, May 23, entitled, “Don’t Get PWNED — Building a Culture of Cybersecurity.” The discussion will run from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m., with breakfast beginning at 8:00 a.m.

The event will focus on how organizations and the government better understand cyber risks and create an institutional culture focused on security.

The breakfast will feature a discussion, moderated by Aspen Cyber Chair John Carlin, featuring Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX), the chair of the House Subcommittee on Information Technology and co-chair of the Aspen Institute’s cyber strategy group, as well as FBI Associate Deputy Director Paul Abbate and McAfee Chief Technology Officer Steve Grobman. 

Featuring

Will Hurd is currently the Chair of the Information Technology Subcommittee on Oversight and Government Reform in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he represents the state of Texas. A former undercover CIA officer, entrepreneur and cybersecurity expert, Hurd is the U.S. Representative for the 23rd Congressional District of Texas. In Washington, he serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, as Vice Chair of the Maritime and Border Security Subcommittee on the Committee for Homeland Security, and as the Chairman of the Information Technology Subcommittee on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He is also co-chair of the Aspen Institute’s cyber strategy group, along with former White House Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco and IBM Chairman, President, and CEO Ginni Rometty.

Paul Abbate was recently named the Associate Deputy Director of the FBI, the bureau’s #3 position, where he oversees all FBI personnel, budget, administration, and infrastructure, as well as the inspection and insider threat programs. Previously, he was Executive Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch, supervising all FBI criminal and cyber investigations worldwide, international operations, critical incident response, and victim assistance. He also served as the assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office. Abbate began his FBI career as a special agent in March 1996 and has served in various counterterrorism and leadership roles at FBI Headquarters, in Los Angeles, Detroit, and Newark, as well as overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.

Steve Grobman is senior vice president and chief technology officer (CTO) for McAfee. In this role, Grobman sets the technical strategy and direction to create technologies which protect smart, connected computing devices and infrastructure worldwide. Prior to joining McAfee, Grobman spent over two decades in senior technical leadership positions at Intel. He has published multiple technical papers and books, and holds 24 U.S. and international patents in the fields of security, software, and computer architecture, with another roughly 20 patents pending.

John Carlin, the chair of the Aspen Institute’s Cybersecurity & Technology Program, recently left the Obama administration after serving as Assistant Attorney General for National Security, the Department of Justice’s top national security attorney. In this Senate-confirmed position, Carlin oversaw nearly 400 employees responsible for protecting the country against international and domestic terrorism, espionage, cyber, and other national security threats.

The Justice Department’s National Security Division—working closely with the White House, the intelligence community, and prosecutors around the country—has helped to put together many of the most important cyber indictments and cases against hackers of the last eight years, ranging from the indictment of five Chinese military hackers for cyber-espionage to the case against Iranian hackers who attacked a New York hydroelectric dam, as well as being integral to cases like the hacking of Sony Pictures and the recent Russian attacks on the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Today, Carlin is also the global chair of the risk and crisis management practice for the law firm Morrison & Foerster and is a sought-after industry speaker on cyber issues as well a CNBC contributor on national security issues.