Jane Holl Lute's Blackhat Keynote

[dave <dave () immunityinc com>]

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The first BlackHat Keynote was Jane Holl Lute (Deputy Secretary, Department of
Homeland Security).

The talk is available here:
https://media.blackhat.com/bh-us-10/video/Lute/BlackHat-USA-2010-Lute-Keynote1-video.mov
or in text form:
http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/speeches/sp_1280437519818.shtm

It was nicely summarized by her comment at the beginning on the nature of cyberspace:
"
How do cyberspace and war zones compare? Wars happen somewhere. They involve
somebody. Geography is key. Seizing and holding terrain. Wars happen somewhere, but
cyberspace is sort of this space-time thing. Nobody really gets it.
"

To which, I know many of the people on this list and in the audience (and no doubt
the second keynote speaker) are thinking "Speak for yourself."

The five missions of the DHS are explained as follows:
Prevent a Terrorist Attack
Secure our Borders
Enforce Immigration laws
Ensure Safety of Cyberspace
Help build a resilient society

But for the Cyberspace mission, the keynote left most people in the audience feeling
that there's a gap at the top - a drumbeat in the talk of "We don't get this stuff"
as nicely demonstrated by the following excerpt:

"
The first trend is the trend of technology. Anthropologists tell us that technology
is putting tools within our grasp. But the current trend is that technology is
exceeding our grasp. It is way out in front of society’s ability to understand,
adapt, and adjust. At the very least we certainly feel as a society that we are
lagging behind the frontiers of technology that you deal with every day.
"

And if you listened to the questions, they were harsh:
"Q: There's a lot of good talk about how we should secure things, but the actual
driving force behind that doesn't seem to be that strong." In other words, the
audience accused her, and really the DHS itself, of fluff and empty rhetoric. Her
answer was that she was trying to leverage the community.

In some sense, Jane Holl Lute said it best:
"
We certainly at the Department don’t believe we have all the answers. What will guide
us? Will our expertise guide us? Will our experience guide us? Do we know the
difference – that expertise is knowing the conditions under which your experience is
relevant.
"

Sheesh.

- -dave
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