CySER Virtual Seminar – Why Bits Take Bytes Out of Your Mission

About the event

Title: Why Bits Take Bytes Out of Your Mission

Speaker: Erich Devendorf

Abstract: The intellectual framework for current defensive practices was established in the late 1980s. Since then, cyber defenses have failed to protect civilian and military networks against costly intrusions. In the face of repeated defensive failures, it is time to ask what is wrong with our approach to Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO)? This presentation identifies two significant DCO problems: DCO surrenders the initiative to the adversary, and DCO presents adversaries with a static target. In doing so, DCO violates the principles of war and cedes intrinsic advantages to the adversary.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Erich Devendorf is the Cyber Core Technical Competency Lead at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome Research Site, in Rome, New York. He is responsible for managing a $400M cyber research and development portfolio to develop information warfare capabilities for maintaining freedom of action in cyber while denying the adversary the same. Dr. Devendorf began his AF career in 2013 as a cyber security researcher. In addition to running three AFRL/RI research programs, his leadership experience allowed him to attend Squadron Officer School in residence. Starting in 2018, he served as the Director of the Advanced Course in Engineering where he established cyber education and training partnerships with four nations. His experience developing cyber warriors provided the opportunity to redesign the 17SX training pipeline through the BLUE EDGE initiative. His exercises provided operationally relevant mission training and he has played a pivotal role in modernizing coalition cyber programs to prepare for peer conflict.

Learn more about CySER: cyser.wsu.edu