Guest: Dr. Kathleen Fisher, Information Innovation Office (I2O) Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) [@DARPA]
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-fisher-4000964/
At Black Hat | https://www.blackhat.com/us-24/summit-sessions/schedule/speakers.html#dr-kathleen-fisher-48776
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Hosts:
Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast [@RedefiningCyber]
On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/sean-martin
Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast
On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
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Episode Notes
In this On Location with Sean and Marco episode, hosts Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli engage in an insightful conversation with Dr. Kathleen Fisher from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The discussion centers around the upcoming Black Hat and DEF CON events, where Dr. Fisher is scheduled to deliver a keynote on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity, with a particular focus on DARPA's ongoing initiatives and competitions.
Dr. Fisher begins by providing an overview of her background and DARPA's mission to prevent technological surprises that could undermine U.S. national security. She recounts the success of the High-Assurance Cyber Military Systems (HACMS) program, which utilized formal methods to create highly secure software for military vehicles. This program demonstrated the potential of formal methods to revolutionize cybersecurity, proving that robust software could be developed to withstand hacking attempts, even from world-class red teams.
The conversation then shifts to the AI Cyber Challenge (AICC) program, a major highlight of her upcoming keynote. AICC aims to leverage the power of AI combined with cyber reasoning systems to automatically find and fix vulnerabilities in real open-source software—an ambitious extension of DARPA's previous Cyber Grand Challenge. This competition involves collaboration with major tech companies like Google, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Microsoft, offering competitors access to state-of-the-art models to tackle real-world vulnerabilities.
Dr. Fisher emphasizes the importance of public-private collaboration in advancing cybersecurity technologies. DARPA's charter allows it to work with a diverse range of organizations, from startups to national labs, in pursuit of strategic technological advances. The episode also touches on the potential impact of cyber vulnerabilities on critical infrastructure, underscoring the need for scalable and automatic solutions to address these threats.
Listeners can anticipate Dr. Fisher highlighting these themes in her keynote, aimed at business leaders, practitioners, policymakers, and risk managers. She will outline how the audience can engage with DARPA's initiatives and contribute to the ongoing efforts to enhance national security through innovative technology solutions.
The episode promises to provide a nuanced understanding of DARPA's role in pioneering AI-driven cybersecurity advancements and offers a preview of the exciting developments to be showcased at Black Hat and DEF CON.
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Resources
Keynote: Enhancing National Security with AI-Driven Cybersecurity: https://www.blackhat.com/us-24/summit-sessions/schedule/index.html#keynote--enhancing-national-security-with-ai-driven-cybersecurity-41250
AI Cyber Challenge: https://aicyberchallenge.com/
DARPA's Information Innovation Office: https://www.darpa.mil/about-us/offices/i2o?ppl=collapse
High-Assurance Cyber Military Systems (HACMS): https://www.darpa.mil/program/high-assurance-cyber-military-systems
DARPAConnect Website: https://pathfinder.theari.us/darpaconnect/home
Learn more about Black Hat USA 2024: https://www.blackhat.com/us-24/
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