Cyber Project

Please join the Cyber Project in welcoming leaders from the Cyber Solarium Commission to discuss their long-awaited report on a national comprehensive cyber strategy. We will have in discussion with us Mark Montgomery, the Executive Director of the Commission; John Costello, the Senior Director and Team Lead Task Force Two; and Robert Morgus, the Director for Research and Analysis Task Force Two. 

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC) was established in the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 to "develop a consensus on a strategic approach to defending the United States in cyberspace against cyber attacks of significant consequences." The finished report was presented to the public on March 11, 2020.  

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission's proposes a strategy of layered cyber deterrence. The report consists of over 80 recommendations to implement the strategy. These recommendations are organized into 6 pillars:

Reform the U.S. Government's Structure and Organization for Cyberspace.

Strengthen Norms and Non-Military Tools.

Promote National Resilience.

Reshape the Cyber Ecosystem.

Operationalize Cybersecurity Collaboration with the Private Sector.

Preserve and Employ the Military Instrument of National Power.

The report can be found here: https://www.solarium.gov/

**This event will now take place via remote webinar; please RSVP to receive the webinar link**

Please join the Cyber Project in welcoming Sean Plankey, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response in the Department of Energy.  

Sean will discuss how the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) addresses the emerging threats of tomorrow while protecting the reliable flow of energy to Americans today by improving energy infrastructure security and supporting the Department of Energy’s (DOE) national security mission. CESER’s focus is preparedness and response activities to natural and man-made threats, ensuring a stronger, more prosperous, and secure future for the Nation. 

Join the Cyber Project and the Defending Digital Democracy Project (D3P) as we convene tech, government, health, and policy experts in an important discussion on the federal government's efforts to work with tech companies and academia in using citizen data to track and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. 

Our main question: How do we get this right--to save lives and preserve privacy and security?

We will use this discussion to generate policy recommendations for the relevant task force working on this issue within the federal government. 

The Working Group will feature experts from Harvard Kennedy School, the Belfer Center, and MIT*

The Honorable Sue Gordon                    Eric Rosenbach

Juliette Kayyem                                         Dr. Margaret Bourdeaux

Jim Waldo                                                   Bruce Schneier

Alex Stamos                                                Kathy Pham

Robby Mook                                               Dr. Marc Zissman

Andrew McLaughlin, J.D.                       Jonathan Zittrain

*Working group still in formation.  Please see full titles of Working Group Members in tab below

**This event will take place via webinar; please RSVP to receive the webinar link**

In this webinar, Priscilla Moriuchi, a non-resident fellow at the Cyber Project and Head of Nation State Research at Recorded Future, will discuss nation-state disinformation campaigns and criminal disinformation-as-a-service offerings. She and her team at Recorded Future have produced several reports based on open-source intelligence collection and analysis, which have helped to shape our understanding of how global digital influence operations are evolving. Recently, she published analysis on Chinese and Russian state sponsored influence operations around the US elections, the COVID-19 pandemic, and will talk to changing tactics deployed by state and criminal actors.  

**Please RSVP for webinar link**

Packed with insider information based on interviews, declassified files, and forensic analysis of company reports, The Hacker and the State sets aside fantasies of cyber-annihilation to explore the real geopolitical competition of the digital age. Tracing the conflict of wills and interests among modern nations, Buchanan reveals little-known details of how China, Russia, North Korea, Britain, and the United States hack one another in a relentless struggle for dominance. His analysis moves deftly from underseas cable taps to underground nuclear sabotage, from blackouts and data breaches to billion-dollar heists and election interference.

Buchanan brings to life this continuous cycle of espionage and deception, attack and counterattack, destabilization and retaliation. He explains why cyber attacks are far less destructive than we anticipated, far more pervasive, and much harder to prevent. The contest for geopolitical advantage has moved into cyberspace. The United States and its allies can no longer dominate the way they once did. The nation that hacks best will triumph.

**This event will now take place via remote webinar; please RSVP to receive the webinar link**

Please join the Cyber Project as we welcome Michelle Watson, expert on 5G telecommunications and security.  Please RVSP. 

5G technology lies at the center of the technological and industrial world that is taking shape. In essence, communications networks are not just for communications anymore. They are evolving into the central nervous system of the next generation of internet, called the "Industrial Internet.”

We see 5G emerging as more important for the technologies it will enable than the technology of 5G itself. However, there is a great deal of debate and confusion surrounding 5G today. What are the facts and what is propaganda? In our current geopolitical environment, governments, private sector and academic executives are all struggling to discern the best strategy to harness the benefits of 5G while avoiding the economic and security risks.

**To be conducted Remotely via Zoom--please contact Lauren Zabierek for Zoom Link**

We connect at least 127 digital devices to the Internet every second.  These products are prepackaged with exploitable weaknesses and have become the soft underbelly of government systems, critical infrastructures and services, as well as business and household operations. The resulting global cyber insecurity poses an increasing risk to public health, safety and prosperity.  Ms. Hathaway will discuss the challenges associated with this unique and strategic vulnerability—by  allowing poorly coded or engineered, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products to permeate and power every aspect of our connected society.  She will also discuss solutions and policy options.

The Cyber Project and the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship are excited to welcome Dr. Gesche Joost, Professor of Design Research at the Berlin University of the Arts and head of the Design Research Lab since 2005.

As part of the Elbe Group Initiative at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, on October 23rd 2019 members of the Center's Intelligence and Cyber Projects met with representatives from Russia to discuss cyber issues ranging from critical infrastructure to election meddling. 

Please join the US members of the Elbe Dialogue for a briefing on the discussions and takeaways from from the meeting. The briefing will take place on Wednesday October 30th from 11:45am-1:00pm in CyberHQ (One Brattle 470). Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP below.

Please join the Belfer Center's Cyber Project for a discussion with Merrit Baer, the Principal Security Architect for Global Accounts at Amazon Web Services.