Information Access and Information Sharing: Where We are and Where We are Going

Presented at Black Hat USA 2015, Aug. 6, 2015, 12:10 p.m. (50 minutes)

Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, will discuss the challenges of information access in today's world. He will also describe the information sharing vision of DHS: is a future where cybersecurity information, such as indicators of specific cyber threats, is shared widely across the public and private sectors at machine-speed and in formats that can be immediately used for network defense. To achieve this goal, cyber threat indicators must be a public good, rather than a market differentiator between companies. When cyber threat indicators are a unique commodity, they are only shared among discrete communities - and we are all less secure. But when cyber threat indicators are not a profit driver for security firms and have zero marginal cost for network defenders, we can achieve information sharing that moves more quickly than our adversaries.


Presenters:

  • Alejandro Mayorkas - Department of Homeland Security
    Alejandro Mayorkas was sworn in as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security on December 23, 2013. Since 2009, following his nomination by President Obama and subsequent confirmation, Deputy Secretary Mayorkas served as the Director of the Department of Homeland Security's United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency charged with operating the largest immigration system in the world. In that position, he led a workforce of 18,000 members throughout more than 250 offices worldwide and oversaw a $3 billion annual budget. While at USCIS he oversaw a number of important programs and enhancements, including the implementation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as well as important reforms that safeguard our nation's security, and ensure the integrity of the immigration system. Prior to his appointment at USCIS, Deputy Secretary Mayorkas was a partner in the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers LLP. In 2008, the National Law Journal recognized Deputy Secretary Mayorkas as one of the "50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America." In 1998, Deputy Secretary Mayorkas was nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate to be the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, becoming the youngest U.S. Attorney to serve the nation at that time. In addition to leading an office of 240 Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Mayorkas served as the Vice-Chair of the Attorney General's Advisory Subcommittee on Civil Rights and as a member of the Subcommittee on Ethics in Government. From 1989 to 1998, Mayorkas served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. Deputy Secretary Mayorkas is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and received his law degree from Loyola Law School.

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