On cyber challenges:

I think the largest cyber threat facing the government has to do with integration and communication. The one value the government has is, there’s this large concern and understanding of the threat. There’s a lot of technology investments being made and there’s a vast amount of expertise in dealing with cyber threats. However, being able to tie the information together and being able to tie the tools together, and being able to leverage these assets that exist in the intelligence community with the assets that exist in the defense community with the assets that exist in the civilian community pulls a challenge. Although I think the resources are there, I think the biggest obstacle they’re going to have is being able to pull that information together and pull that vast set of assets together to help solve the problem.

Excerpt:

My first government job was actually as a contractor supporting DOD in requirements analysis. What I learned from that, being grounded in requirements is important, and it really keeps you centered on the mission and what the actual necessities are associated with the mission. Especially in IT security, we have to ask ourselves quite often, why are really we doing this? What are the actual requirements that we’re trying to meet?

I actually started out as a teacher early in my career, and I feel like that skill or the development of that skill has helped me relate with people, understand how to motivate folks, which as you progress in your career becomes more and more valuable in understanding how to lead people through tasks, projects, et cetera.

You have to understand there is an eco-system around you to support you as a federal employee – everyone from the people that you may work for, that may work for you, the contractors and or their products and services that support you as a fed – all of those folks are there to support the mission, and thus, your role in that mission.