Cyber experts from West Point and Annapolis speak at IWP

This fall, Lieutenant Commander, Dr. Joseph M. Hatfield, Assistant Professor with the Department of Cyber Science at the U.S. Naval Academy, and Lieutenant Commander, Dr. David V. Gioe, History Fellow at the Army Cyber Institute at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, gave lectures sponsored by the IWP Cyber Intelligence Initiative (Ci²).

Above: Dr. Joseph Hatfield speaks at IWP on Social Engineering in Cybersecurity.

Lieutenant Commander Hatfield spoke at IWP on September 12 on the topic of “Social Engineering in Cybersecurity: The Evolution of a Concept.” His lecture covered social engineering, otherwise known as “human hacking.”  Human hacking, an essential tool used by computer hackers, has its origins long before the digital age.

During his lecture, Hatfield shared how during the early days of computing, a hacker discovered that a whistle which operates at exactly 2600 hertz came in every box of Captain Crunch cereal. A 2600 hertz tone is exactly what the AT&T machines used to authorize company operators to call for free. The hacker got into the telephone system using this cereal box whistle. This was the first case of hacking an entire system. Inspired by this story, IWP plans to award Dr. Hatfield an “Order of the Whistle” medal – a tongue-in-cheek award founded by IWP Ci².

Above: IWP Executive Vice President Larry Cosgriff, Dr. David Gioe, CIA veteran Burton Gerber, and IWP Senior Vice President for Professional Affiliations Captain Christopher D. Glass, Sr., USN-Retired, following a lecture by Dr. Gioe about Soviet Military Intelligence Colonel Oleg Penkovsky.

Dr. Gioe spoke at the Institute on November 9 on the topic of “Tradecraft and Treachery: How CIA and MI6 Handled The Spy Who Saved The World.” His talk was about Soviet Military Intelligence Colonel Oleg Penkovsky, who has been called “The Spy Who Saved The World.” Dr. Gioe discussed the tradecraft used by the American Central Intelligence Agency and British Secret Intelligence Service to shine a light on Cold War Human Intelligence tradecraft. Dr. Gioe is a leading expert on the Penkovsky case, and his research includes interviews with some key players, as well as access to a private archive.

IWP was particularly pleased to welcome Dr. Hatfield and Dr. Gioe to its Ci² lecture series highlighting IWP’s latest Cyber partnerships with both the Departments of the Army and Navy.

Other speakers this semester for the Cyber Intelligence Initiative included Ethan S. Burger, a legal consultant and educator, who discussed “Cybersecurity: What should be the Role of Psychological Forensic & Predictive Tools in Combating the Insider Threat?” on October 16; Paul de Souza, Founder and President of the Cyber Security Forum Initiative, who discussed “The Importance of Collections in Cyberspace Operations” on October 30; and Darren Death, Chief Information Security Officer at ASRC Federal, who discussed “Foundational Information Security” on November 30.

Paul de Souza and Ethan Burger are now on the Ci² Advisory Board. Other members of the Advisory Board are Sam Chughtai, a global IT, risk, and cybersecurity leader who currently serves as an expert speaker for the U.S. Department of State; Joe Billingsley, founder of the Military Cyber Professionals Association; and Michelle DiGruttolo, Senior Managing Director at Ankura Consulting Group.

To learn more about IWP’s Cyber Intelligence Initiative, please visit www.cyberintelligenceinitiative.org.