Signals Intelligence, Zero Trust, and the Next Generation Workforce with NSA's Dave Luber

In this week’s Cyber Focus, host Frank Cilluffo speaks with Dave Luber, the Director of Cybersecurity at the NSA. Luber shares insights from his extensive career, spanning 37 years in the intelligence community. The discussion focuses on the NSA's dual mission in signals intelligence and cybersecurity, its collaboration with industry through the Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, the importance of public-private partnerships, and the evolving threat landscape. Luber emphasizes the need for secure-by-design principles, the role of education in developing the next-generation cyber workforce, and the NSA's efforts to address threats from state-sponsored actors like China and Russia.

Main Topics Covered:

• NSA’s dual missions: Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Cybersecurity
• Establishment of the Cybersecurity Directorate under General Nakasone
• Public-private partnerships and the Cybersecurity Collaboration Center
• Global partnerships with U.S. allies and Five Eyes nations
• The role of academia and the Centers of Academic Excellence in building the cyber workforce
• State-sponsored threats, particularly from China and Russia
• The importance of secure-by-design and zero-trust models in cybersecurity
• Intersection of space and cyber domains, including the protection of space systems
• NSA’s role in shaping the cyber defense landscape and publishing cybersecurity advisories

Key Quotes:

“NSA has two primary missions: signals intelligence and cybersecurity. About five years ago, we combined these strengths to form the Cybersecurity Directorate, enhancing our capabilities to protect national security systems.” – Dave Luber

“You need to use the hacker mentality to think about how to protect critical systems.” – Dave Luber

We’ve brought together the talents of NSA, along with the talents of industry, to really scale cybersecurity in a way we’ve never been able to do in the past." – Dave Luber 

“Russia has decided that, you know what, espionage is more valuable than attack, because if I can get the insights I need from Ukrainian networks, I can drive an outcome that benefits Russia on the battlefield. So you can see that actors will choose a different playbook depending on what they need at a particular time.” – Dave Luber

“Over the course of the last five years, we've continued to see state sponsored actors increase in both their sophistication and scale and capabilities of an impact of some of their operational activities.”– Dave Luber

Turning those signals intelligence insights into actionable cybersecurity guidance is really, I think, where we bring unique opportunities for our nation. But again, just ourselves is not enough.” – Dave Luber

Relevant Links and Resources:

• GenCyber program for K-12 students
• https://media.defense.gov/2024/Feb/07/2003389935/-1/-1/0/CSA-PRC-Compromise-US-Critical-Infrastructure.PDF