Ep. 294 From Defense to Offense: Proactive Strategies to Protect Federal Data

One famous cartoon featured two vultures sitting on a fence; one turned to the other and said, "I am sick of waiting, let's kill something."

When it comes to preventing cyberattacks, the federal government is well known for a defensive approach. They have security systems, air gap systems, and even a zero-trust approach. This defensive approach is essential but may not give the federal government a complete view of how to protect data.

Today, we sat down with Chris Jones, Nightwing's Chief Technical Officer. He outlines some of the characteristics of a concept called "offense informs defense." This is a method that Nightwing has developed through over 40 years of working with federal technology leaders.

For example, they developed their Counter Trace service, which uses offensive cyber strategies to defend critical infrastructure. The service involves proactively hunting for vulnerabilities, identifying access points, and analyzing digital evidence to expose cyberattacks.

During the interview, Jones mentions that the GSA has received this approach well. In fact, Nightwing recently won all six GSA Highly Adaptive Security Services categories. These handle security aspects like Penetration Testing, Incident Response, Risk Assessments, Cyber Hunt, and High Value Asses Assessments.

Jones emphasizes the importance of initiative-taking, cybersecurity, AI integration, and collaboration across agencies to adapt to protect federal data.