How The CIA Is Making Sense Of Big Data

For decades, the CIA’s spying strategy remained relatively unchanged, perhaps reflected best in the fact that last year’s creation of a Directorate for Digital Innovation was the first new directorate within the spy agency in more than 50 years.

Helmed by Deputy Director Andrew Hallman, the new entity is a result of big data, the technological explosion of connectivity and data among devices, sensors and people, and the CIA’s wish to make sense of it all.

In a rare public appearance at Tuesday’s Cloudera Federal Forum, which was hosted by the custom events unit of Nextgov's parent company, Government Executive Media Group, Hallman said the CIA’s old information collection strategies couldn’t “withstand the accelerating rate of information” produced globally or “keep pace with policymakers’ more rapid need to make decisions.” In short, the CIA wants to be more predictive and less reactive.

“We are developing policy approaches that affect outcomes instead of becoming reactionary,” Hallman said. “We’re not here to chase the news.”

With the CIA’s technology backbone, including a cloud computing environment built by Amazon Web Services and other unique capabilities, now fully in place, Hallman said the spy agency is “taking next steps” to solidify its strategy around harnessing this explosion of information.

Big data technologies allow analysts to piece together the “digital exhaust” of adversaries, Hallman said. And even “small fragments” represent major opportunities. Analysts can use disparate data and accompanying analytic capabilities to put together a puzzle, even if all the pieces are spread randomly over the kitchen table.

“The whole can be pieced together from fragments,” Hallman said.

Hallman said the directorate is focused on three ideas: “Optimizing the CIA’s underlying digital ecosystem; establishing sound data management principles; and making data useful to increasingly sophisticated consumers.”

These ideas, he said, represent not only a major technical change to the agency’s operations, but a cultural transformation as well. An increased emphasis on data requires a reduction in old bureaucratic and management policies – allowing the agency to get out of the way of itself and its analysts, who act as stewards of the intelligence community’s greatest asset.

Optimizing the digital ecosystem requires a “decentralized governance process with just enough high-level guidance to operationalize,” Hallman said. “Information is the currency of the realm in the intelligence world, and we want all our analysts to have (currency) in their pockets.”

If the CIA has rebuilt its technology infrastructure, the next step is “rewiring its organizational neural pathways” to ensure, for example, that the kinds of lapses in information sharing that preceded 9/11 don’t reoccur. He’s put an emphasis on rapid dynamic teaming, or digitally networked teams, which collaborate in real-time “to storm vexing problems” when strange trends emerge or data suggests “subtle shifts or discontinuities.”

The emphasis is not only on sharing information with the CIA and other agencies within the IC, but “making the data useful to increasingly sophisticated consumers," Hallman added.

“Given the complexity of national security challenges we face today, we have to optimize not only technology but our officers’ minds,” he said. “We are developing policy approaches that affect the outcomes instead of becoming reactionary.”

NextGov: http://bit.ly/1pZy40b

« Who Is The Cybersecurity Guy In Your Organisation?
Cognitive Computing Market Forecast To Be Worth $31Billion In 3 Years »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

LockLizard

LockLizard

Locklizard provides PDF DRM software that protects PDF documents from unauthorized access and misuse. Share and sell documents securely - prevent document leakage, sharing and piracy.

Resecurity, Inc.

Resecurity, Inc.

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence.

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO is the market leader in HPE Non-Stop Security, Risk Management and Compliance.

ZenGRC

ZenGRC

ZenGRC - the first, easy-to-use, enterprise-grade information security solution for compliance and risk management - offers businesses efficient control tracking, testing, and enforcement.

CSI Consulting Services

CSI Consulting Services

Get Advice From The Experts: * Training * Penetration Testing * Data Governance * GDPR Compliance. Connecting you to the best in the business.

RIVA Solutions

RIVA Solutions

RIVA provides innovative best practices in IT and management consulting, program support services and emerging technologies.

C2B2 Consulting

C2B2 Consulting

C2B2 are experts in middleware support and consultancy. We specialise in ensuring scalability, performance and security of large scale systems.

CYBERPOL

CYBERPOL

CYBERPOL's mission is to facilitate the widest possible mutual assistance between all cyber crime law enforcement authorities to help mitigate global cyber threats.

Intertek Group

Intertek Group

Intertek Group provides Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification services. Activities include cybersecurity testing and certification.

K2 Integrity

K2 Integrity

K2 Integrity is a preeminent risk, compliance, investigations, and monitoring firm - built by industry leaders to safeguard our clients’ operations, reputations, and economic security.

Wallarm

Wallarm

Wallarm is the only unified, best-in-class API Security and WAAP (Web App and API Protection) platform to protect your entire API and web application portfolio.

Smart Contract Security Alliance

Smart Contract Security Alliance

The Smart Contract Security Alliance supports the blockchain ecosystem by building standards for smart contract security and smart contract audits.

Blockchain Research Institute (BRI)

Blockchain Research Institute (BRI)

Blockchain Research Institute (BRI) is an independent, global think-tank. We bring together the world’s top global researchers to undertake ground-breaking research on blockchain technology.

CyberNews

CyberNews

Cybernews.com is a research-based online publication that helps people navigate a safe path through their increasingly complex digital lives.

AVEVA

AVEVA

AVEVA has a long history in providing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition software for meeting complex and evolving automation requirements.

Axient

Axient

Axient advances defense and civilian missions from aerospace to cyberspace with multi-domain test and analysis, mission engineering and operations, and advanced technologies.

Digital Security Authority (DSA)

Digital Security Authority (DSA)

The establishment of the Digital Security Authority, which incorporates the National CSIRT, is crucial to significantly raising the cybersecurity posture and capabilities of Cyprus.

APIsentry

APIsentry

APIsentry is a leading provider of comprehensive API security solutions, specializing in protecting organizations from a wide range of cyber threats targeting their Application Programming Interfaces.

BuddoBot

BuddoBot

BuddoBot has been a pioneering force in cybersecurity and information technology since 2008.

Bluerydge

Bluerydge

Bluerydge specialises in cyber security and technology, focusing on the delivery of innovative sovereign solutions through trusted, cleared and experienced professionals.

Foghorn Consulting

Foghorn Consulting

Foghorn can analyze your cloud to enhance performance and security, while reducing costs. Based on AWS’ 6 Pillars, our AWS WAFR Certified Engineers Will Identify Areas of Improvement.