Cybersecurity Futures 2025: Insights and Findings
“Cybersecurity Futures 2025: Insights and Findings“
Speakers: Cohn, A. (Steptoe & Johnson, LLP); Kaufman, D. (CNA); Thomas, D. (CNA); Weber, S. (UC Berkeley)
Date: 7 June 2019
Speaker Session Preview
SMA hosted a speaker session presented by Ms. Dawn Thomas (CNA), Dr. David Kaufman (CNA), Dr. Steven Weber (UC Berkeley), and Mr. Alan Cohn (Steptoe & Johnson, LLP) as a part of its SMA General Speaker Series. To begin, Ms. Thomas outlined her team’s key propositions: 1) Cybersecurity is the biggest problem of the Internet era; 2) The problem set is evolving more quickly than our understanding of it (and our ability to ‘solve’ it); 3) Different countries and industries will grapple with these challenges in different ways; and 4) Gaining foresight into those differences enables us to tilt the digital world in a direction that is more secure and beneficial to people and societies. She then spoke about their project as a whole, which introduced four scenarios that highlight different aspects of how technology and people might interact in 2025. Her team conducted workshops in four different locations (Palo Alto, Munich, Singapore, and Hong Kong) in order to see how people in different countries/regions react to the scenarios provided. After Ms. Thomas spoke about what policy success looks like, Mr. Cohn described each of the four scenarios posed during the workshop: 1) “The New Wiggle Room,” 2) “Quantum Leap,” 3) “Trust Us,” and 4) “Barlow’s Revenge.” Ms. Thomas then discussed how the participants at each of the workshops answered the following questions, with respect to cybersecurity in 2025: 1) “Who will come in and save the day?”; 2) “Where are first mover advantages most important?”; and 3) “Where are the new criminals?” Next, Dr. Weber outlined the overarching themes that arose from the team’s research: 1) There is disillusionment when it comes to the idea of ‘cyber norms’; 2) It takes concerted effort to keep hold of the upside (of cybersecurity); and 3) The discussion (surrounding cybersecurity) has been nationalized. He also spoke about digital geopolitics and how it is creating new alignments among new state and non-state actors; digital job displacement and inequality; and the maintenance of data integrity and trust. To conclude, all four speakers addressed questions posed during the Q&A session.
Steven Weber, Faculty Director, Center for Long-term Cybersecurity, UC Berkeley
Steven Weber works at the intersection of technology markets, intellectual property regimes, and international politics. His research, teaching, and advisory work focus on the political economy of knowledge intensive industries, with special attention to health care, information technology, software, and global political economy issues relating to competitiveness. He is also a frequent contributor to scholarly and public debates on international politics and US foreign policy. One of the world’s most expert practitioners of scenario planning, Weber has worked with over a hundred companies and government organizations to develop this discipline as a strategy planning tool.
David Kaufman, Vice President and Director, CNA's institute for Public Research
David Kaufman is the Vice President and Director for Safety and Security at CNA. He is responsible for executive management, development, and execution of CNA's work in the areas of public safety, homeland security, emergency management, and public health. From 2009 to 2015, Kaufman served as the Associate Administrator for Policy, Program Analysis, and International Affairs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Kaufman is the Chair of the National Academy of Sciences Planning Committee for Science-Based Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Resilience Exercises, and a member of the Academies' Resilient America Roundtable. He teaches in Georgetown University's graduate program in Emergency and Disaster Management and is a faculty member at the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security.
Dawn Thomas, Associate Director, CNA's institute for Public Research
Dawn Thomas has spent 15 years focused on helping governments at all jurisdictional levels prepare for and respond to large, catastrophic incidents. In addition to designing, conducting, and evaluating hundreds of exercises in the fields of cybersecurity, public health, law enforcement, intelligence, natural hazards, and chemical/biological, she has analyzed and evaluated real-world operations, including two presidential Inaugurations, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Irma, and the Moore, Oklahoma, tornado. Ms. Thomas holds a BS in Political Science from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, and an MA in Israeli Society and Politics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.
Alan Cohn, Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Alan Cohn counsels clients on a range of blockchain- and cryptocurrency-related issues and represents various types of entities, from cryptocurrency platforms to investment funds to high net worth individuals, as well as corporations interested in exploring potential applications of blockchain technology. Cohn helped found Steptoe's Blockchain and Cryptocurrency practice and serves as its co-chair. He also serves as counsel to the Blockchain Alliance. Before joining Steptoe, Cohn served in senior policy positions at DHS for almost a decade, most recently as the Assistant Secretary for Strategy, Planning, Analysis & Risk and second-in-charge overall of the DHS Office of Policy. Drawing on this experience, Cohn brings a unique perspective focusing on the intersection of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology with cybersecurity and cybercrime, and also advises clients on national security and emerging technology issues.
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