Chapter News

The chapter hosted its inaugural Cyber & IT Summit in November at Moffett Field, California. The event was held in the 63rd Readiness Division. Six presentations were delivered by speakers from government and industry in the amphitheater. Sponsors and refreshments were available in the drill hall. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with several participants deciding to join AFCEA!

In November, the chapter held an event at Scott's Seafood in San Jose, California. Guest speaker Halin Garcia-Gordon, from Datasophical LLC, is also the new chapter Emerging Leaders chair.

With data breaches and cyber attacks rising, effective security is more crucial than ever for organizations operating in the cloud. This informative talk explored how Python and Amazon Web Services (AWS) services can be leveraged to bolster the security of AWS cloud environments now and in the future.

At the February Luncheon, Ricky J. Deutsch delivered a presentation on HEXAGON, the history of film-based reconnaissance satellites. During the Cold War, the United States evolved reconnaissance, resulting in today's real-time video technology. Initially, the film was used in satellites to monitor treaty compliance and intelligence gathering of the Soviet Union and other denied areas. The vehicle, HEXAGON, was 60 feet long and took pictures from 100 miles up. The program was urgent and required cooperation between the CIA and the U.S. Air Force, guided by the National Reconnaissance Office. A chapter member, Andrew Watters, demonstrated a prototype of a wearable augmented reality helmet that uses a see-through display and a panoramic camera mount to provide thermal vision overlaid on the real world, as well as targeting and symbology.

The STEAM Project sponsored by the chapter member donations to the Educational Fund is completed! Check out the video at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM4Ov6MrZco

While it looks like it's about gardening, gardening is the vehicle for these Main Street Scholars to develop a science project and produce a video, a fun technology project for them.

Cybercrime cost the world almost $1 trillion in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic provided new opportunities for hackers to target consumers and businesses. Despite a surge in crime, many companies lack a clear plan for dealing with cyber attacks. Gartner predicts that annual global spending on cybersecurity will reach $170 billion by 2022. Even with these ever-increasing levels of organizational spending on security-related hardware, software and services, cyber attacks continue unabated. The average total cost of a data breach is $4.24 million and dwell time is 287 days. This session focused on venture capital investments and mergers and acquisitions trends in security, innovative segments that are attracting investors, how investors are evaluating security startups, recent exits and post-initial public offering performance.

Main Street Scholars, a private learning center located in Half Moon Bay, California, received a STEAM grant from the chapter. The grant is funding the Root View Planter Project, an experiment in plant germination and growth, created by Sarah Kiser. The project objective is for students to study the germination and growth of seeds, study the development of roots, and document the growth cycle of various plants. The experiment will be documented with video and posted on YouTube.

In January, Gustavo Sanchez, Pandata Tech, spoke to the chapter about mitigation and use cases of intrinsic risk for deployed artificial intelligence systems.

Cybersecurity is anything to do with digital risk. It is not exclusive to protecting systems from hackers and enemy bad actors. In terms of artificial intelligence (AI) and decision algorithms, there are two main cyber risks that need to be mitigated:

1. External Risk: This is what comes to mind whenever anyone hears 'cybersecurity.' Hackers and bad actors manipulating our systems.

2. Intrinsic Risk: Many think of a lot less of this when discussing cybersecurity. This includes flawed engineering, legacy equipment, bad data and what happens once external risk mitigation fails.

Although it may be counterintuitive, the number one risk to deployed AI systems is NOT bad actors and hackers, but the data the system depends on.

In November, Adrienne Pierce presented "Sustainability for Profit and Growth" for the chapter meeting.

There is a universal understanding that a "new normal" can be a result of the pandemic. For many, the path to a "new normal" leads into unknown territory. How can we know if we are on the right trail? The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals provide help for the journey. There are concerns that changing methods could decrease profit, impede production and limit growth. Pierce discussed following the "Do Well by Doing Good" path to a better future for your company and for the planet.

Walt Paley, vice president of communications for SafeLogic, is responsible for strategy, content, marketing and outreach. He brings experience from several start-ups and companies in growth stages, including Nukona (acquired by Symantec) and Bitzer (acquired by Oracle).

At the June event, Paley discussed the landscape of certifications typical for federal procurement and covered FedRAMP, Common Criteria, CMMC and the NIST publications that provide the technical backbone for them. He also discussed the specifics of FIPS 140, NIST's cryptographic validation that consistently delays and derails certification efforts across the board.

Greg McGregor, CEO, Bright Apps, is leading a team of expert engineers into the future of Quantum Entropy security systems with the development of the QCloud. He is at the forefront of the open blockchain, artificial intelligence, wireless and big data technology. He is also a strategist with the innate ability to visualize and develop next-generation technologies. His expertise has positioned him to develop a sustainable and secure digital foundation for blockchain.

5G promises blazing-fast data speeds, reduced latency and greater density for smart devices. But can 5G really live up to the hype? At the chapter's March event, Walt Maclay, president, Voler Systems, answered this question and discussed details that are often skipped amid user excitement over 5G.

The world is on the cusp of an explosion for new autonomous systems that will host fleets of land, sea, air and space vehicles. How will these systems safely and securely emerge, grow and scale to the opportunity and promise of this new world?

During the January meeting, the scheduled presenter experienced technical difficulties and was not able to present. Therefore, we took the opportunity to discuss the Capital breach and data protection. Attendees participated in a lively discussion about their experiences with data protection and lessons learned.

The chapter hosted a virtual meeting for December and received a presentation on Passwordless Authentication from StrongKey. The chapter learned about FIDO [Fast IDentity online], an easier and more secure open-source authentication option. FIDO can be used to remove passwords, minimize identity theft and easily adapt to existing environments to provide strong authentication to a wide range of applications used by service providers, developers and consumers alike. This method has been deemed the highest assurance level for authentication, even higher than digital certificate smart cards used by the U.S. Department of Defense.

In September, Joy Montgomery, chapter vice president of scholarships and a strategic advisor for startup companies, shared a program on how to become the catalyst to grow STEM programs in schools where members have a connection. Chapter members contact the schools, introduce the program and provide an application. Completed applications are returned to the chapter where they are judged. The winning teams receive scholarships to assist with the purchase of supplies needed to carry out the STEM project. Advisors are matched to assist the team with the project. Advisors can be from AFCEA chapters or members of the community. Sponsors can provide cash or in-kind services.

Be a Judge. Be an Advisor. Be a Sponsor. Be the Catalyst! The chapter is happy to share the program with others.

Joy can be reached at stem@siliconvalley.afceachapters.org

In August, the chapter welcomed to its virtual meeting Maj. Gen. Stephen Hager, USA, deputy commander of Operations, Cyber National Mission Force, U.S. Cyber Command. Gen. Hager discussed trends and innovations at Cyber Command.

In July, the chapter welcomed Col. Eric McFadden, USA, deputy commander of South Pacific Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Col. McFadden discussed how the Army Corps of Engineers Disaster Recovery Operations supports the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The chapter welcomed Lt. Gen. Robert M. Shea, USMC, (Ret.), president and CEO of AFCEA International, to the March Quarterly meeting. Gen. Shea delivered a captivating presentation on Current Global Threats and conducted one-on-one meetings with several companies. We welcomed our newest chapter officer, Noah Feingold, who be leading the chapter's Young AFCEAN program.

At a chapter meeting in November, Light Cyber's Jason Matloff showed attendees how machine learning and automated baseline analysis discover the behavior that attackers use after they compromise an organization's network. It's better to find out sooner rather than later that you've been hacked, but that usually is not the case. According to Stephanie Balaouras of Forrester Research, it takes an average of 200 days before an organization knows that they have been hacked and when they do, the chances are high that they find out when law enforcement shows up on their doorstep.

An August chapter meeting featured a presentation by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official as well as a Young AFCEAN and recognition for a longtime association leader. Bob Moorhead, who has been involved with AFCEA for more than 30 years and a chapter president for 10 years, received a certificate of recognition for outstanding service. The chapter's new slate of officers was sworn in. Andrew Waters, one of the chapter's Young AFCEANs, showed off his work with a radio surveillance system in a suitcase. Melissa Ho, managing director of the Silicon Valley Office at the DHS Science and Technology Directorate, talked about how a new entrepreneurial program in the mold of "Shark Tank" is helping startups with commercial off-the-shelf products of interest to the DHS get government funding with a lot less red tape than is typical with government contracts.

The chapter's May speaker was Rubrik's CEO, Bipul Sinha, who has more than 18 years of experience in building billion-dollar products and companies from the ground up. Rubrik is a typical Silicon Valley company with great information technology growth potential. Rubrik is striving to change the storage industry using webscale and hyperconvergent technologies. The storage industry has seen little innovation in the last few years. Rubrik, with its forward-leaning solutions, is trying to change that paradigm.

The chapter met in November to receive a briefing from Craig Buehler, the director of private-sector engagement for the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC), San Francisco. Buehler informed the chapter how the NCRIC came about shortly after the tragic events of 9/11. It has 70 personnel who staff the intelligence cycle efforts of collection, analysis and dissemination. He discussed the center's mission in detail, pointing out that the NCRIC is only one of many throughout the U.S. and receives suspicious activity reports (SARs) from various police departments, fire departments, emergency agencies funded by the Department of Homeland Security and the general public. This information then, is entered into a fusion center, which feeds other fusion centers throughout the country. All of this mission effort is helping to keep America safe.

In November, the chapter invited Lt. Gen. John R. (Bob) Wood, USA (Ret.), and four of the Northern California region chapters to a meeting in Palo Alto, California, to explain a recent initiative called Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx). The initiative was enacted in August by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and will be located in Mountain View, California. Because the DIUx initiative has far-reaching objectives potentially affecting all four Northern California chapters, several of the chapter officers were invited to attend. After the meeting, the representatives were able to meet privately with Gen. Wood, providing an excellent chance for the general to get to know the chapter officers and share his ideas about the future.

In May, the chapter held a quarterly meeting at the Moffett Field Historical Society Museum in the San Francisco area. The museum still has many pictures and memorabilia of the original helium-filled airship USS Macon. The USS Macon (ZRS-5) was a rigid airship built and operated by the U.S. Navy for scouting and served as a "flying aircraft carrier" designed to carry five biplane parasite aircraft for scouting. Later, this Navy base was once a P-3 Orion base, which was taken over by NASA's Ames Research Center, when the Navy ceased its operations in the mid 90's. At the meeting, the chapter recognized a member and active participant for his dedication and service. Lt. Col. Douglas Lomsdalen, USAF, came to the Silicon Valley to assume command of the Air Force San Jose State ROTC, Detachment 045, from his previous affiliation with the Kaiserslautern Chapter, Central European Region, more than two years ago. Col. Lomsdalen quickly assisted the chapter in its inauguration and management of its website. In addition, he established an automated process of registering for chapter events, which had been handled in an inefficient manner by U.S. mail. Col. Lomsdalen accomplished this, despite his demanding schedule managing a highly motivated Air Force ROTC Cadet program at San Jose State University. Col. Lomsdalen will be retiring from the Air Force in June after a 29-year career. The chapter is fortunate to have him as an active member in his last Air Force assignment. For his outstanding service to the chapter, Col. Lomsdalen was provided a certificate of recognition for outstanding service signed by Lt. Gen. Robert Shea, USMC (Ret.), president and CEO of AFCEA International.

The chapter hosted Lt. Col. Enrique Oti, USAF, fellow at Stanford University, as the guest speaker for its May meeting. Col. Oti spoke to the audience about Chinese threats to the Internet. The talk focused on four high-level topics: cyberattacks, competing with the Chinese, the Chinese plan and how to stop it. Col. Oti described the various types of cyberattacks, such as reconnaissance, economic espionage, theft, disruption, disinformation and strategic Attack, to name a few. For each category of attack, he provided numerous examples for the audience. He also compared and contrasted how the United States and China view the Internet. The U.S. sees the Internet as a tool to promote domestic and international development, facilitate equality and bring human rights violations to the forefront. The U.S. recognizes that the Internet poses potential risks. On the other hand, China considers it an existential threat from both domestic and international actors but recognizes it is critical to continued development in the country. Also discussed was China's vision on the future of the Internet to promote peace, security, openness and cooperation. Col. Oti wrapped up with a discussion on how the U.S. needs to invest in defense against the various cyberattacks and answered questions from audience members.