On this monthly column, Defense Day by day highlights individuals from across the federal government, industry and academia whose efforts contribute each day to national defense, from this system managers to the human resource leaders, to the engineers and logistics officers.
Jim Coyle is the U.S. Public Sector CTO at Lookout. Coyle had worked in cyber knowledge and expertise positions for over 20 years and now uses it to assist close the safety gap many government agencies and organizations face. Coyle is currently liable for leading the charge for the greater US Public Sector community, to re-design and revolutionize cyber security programs of shoppers to battle today’s threats.
How did you get entangled within the defense industry or community?
You could possibly say I used to be born right into a sense of duty, as working inside the defense community runs deep in my family. Each of my parents previously worked for intelligence agencies, and I even have several relations who served in various armed services during World War II.
Growing up, I at all times had an interest in working in the safety field. I noticed early on that getting a job in security is sort of difficult, as most organizations require a certain level of experience—even for entry-level positions. My first job in the sector was a slightly unconventional start; I worked for a well-liked hotel chain as a security engineer. After a temporary stint outside of IT, I discovered my way back to my true passion, cyber threat defense.
My profession journey of 20+ years has led me to the role of U.S. Public Sector Chief Technology Officer at Lookout, a data-centric cloud security company, where I’m dedicated to helping government agencies address mobile security concerns.
What are some challenges you faced working through your profession?
One challenge I faced early in my profession journey was an absence of skilled leadership. Early on, I struggled to search out a private mentor. Whether I used to be trying to raised my team or myself, I often felt like I used to be in competition with my peers and management slightly than working as a cohesive unit. This helped me develop a proactive mentality that pushed me to construct solutions or find resolutions to significant problems without being asked. This mentality has supported my profession growth and enabled me to more efficiently navigate the usual red tape inside the industry.
How do you’re employed to be a mentor yourself to younger counterparts?
Time and advice are the 2 things I offer freely to any up-and-coming skilled entering the cybersecurity workforce. For me, helping someone avoid a mistake that I made early on in my very own profession or helping them repeat the success that I’ve had is some of the rewarding feelings. If you’re in a position to propel someone to success – even surpassing yourself – it’s a downright addictive feeling. As such, I at all times strive to make myself available to anyone who reaches out for advice.
What does it mean to achieve success in your profession field?
What defines success often looks different depending on your organization or job position. In my current role, the power to provide government customers that “ah-ha!” moment that permits them to raised defend our nation or solve a highly complex problem is where real success lies for me.
Organizations often overlook mobile devices as a security threat. While many agencies have protocols in place to defend against traditional desktop malware or server attacks, far fewer have protections for mobile-centric attacks or are aware of how mobile devices serve because the initial entry point to cyber breaches.
It’s a giant “aha” moment once they realize just how big a task mobile devices play of their day-to-day operations and the way quickly attackers can compromise credentials and sensitive data based on advanced phishing and social engineering tactics.
One other “aha” moment I’ve seen is around election security. Many attackers are using SMS text messages that election campaigns are using to achieve constituents to phish victims. Fake links may be hidden in easy messages posing as election candidates or information on polling locations or voting times. Once a victim clicks the fake link, they’re led to a web site that tricks them into entering their username and password for an account, where they could inadvertently download malware or surveillanceware, giving criminals a back door into government systems housing private voter and citizen information or allowing attackers the chance to steal money.
Helping agencies understand these threats and the way they will combat them to raised serve constituents and perform the mission is what makes this job value doing.
What are a number of the under-appreciated positions within the defense field, the unsung heroes or essential cogs within the machine that help the job get done with less recognition?
While everyone has a vital part to play with regards to securing our nation, we should always highlight the researchers and analysts who often don’t get the popularity they deserve. In lots of cases, they’re faced with the darker side of life, tasks that transcend taking a look at code or software and impact human lives. They may match as many as 18 hours a day with as little as 4 hours of sleep. This strain takes a toll on them mentally and physically, and we’ll never find out about most of their successes.
It’s necessary we offer these individuals with the support they need. While recognition is very important, we also need to listen to from them regarding what they might deem most helpful. Sometimes, that’s so simple as having someone to talk over with about their struggles.
How has the culture modified around diversity inside your profession?
The most important takeaway I’ve noticed throughout my profession is the rise within the inclusion of ladies within the defense and cybersecurity field. There’s, after all, still much work to be done across the board, but I can remember growing up witnessing my mother being omitted for jobs or having issues with upper management solely due to her gender. Now, family and friends of mine within the industry are working in those very positions my mother struggled to get into. While those challenges haven’t been eliminated, there was significant progress.
I’m grateful today to be working with an organization that values every individual equally and provides them the popularity they deserve.
What’s your advice for brand spanking new entrants to the defense/military community?
It’s imperative for brand spanking new entrants into the sector—or anyone fascinated with learning more about it—to search out mentors early on. Step one, and the toughest for a lot of, is reaching out to your network and folks inside the community and asking. In the event you just ask, you’d be surprised on the resources and people who find themselves willing to make it easier to succeed.
Often, I’ll give advice to and have conversations with recent college graduates since the people in my network reached out to me.
Moreover, gaining that initial experience before entering the workforce is very important. There are such a lot of more programs and classes available to achieve experience now than after I first entered the industry.
One in all these is the SFS (Scholarship for Service) program, which provides funds to universities for student scholarships in support of education in cybersecurity-related areas. Chosen students are awarded a scholarship for up to 3 years. In return, recipients comply with work for the federal government in a cybersecurity position for the length of the scholarship, meaning students receive each an education and employment.
One other resource is the CCDC (Cyber Collegiate Defense Competition), where students can test their cyber skills in protecting network infrastructures against industry hackers. This can be a very fast method to learn exactly what to anticipate within the cyber field once students graduate college and enter the workforce.
What do you see as the long run of your sector in national defense?
The role of cybersecurity will turn into much more critical because the digitalization of presidency and our each day lives increases. Cybercriminals are actively targeting agencies with evolving tactics and threat vectors, trying to harm our nation and residents. This threat will only increase in the approaching years.
This 12 months, we’ve already seen how cyber and traditional defense are beginning to blur lines with regards to hunt-forward operations, defense of weapon systems, citizen-facing government systems, critical infrastructure and hospitals. With sectors becoming increasingly entwined and interconnected, the human element of national security has never been more crucial.
Today, it’s more necessary than ever to guard our residents from the advanced cyber threats aiming to steal credentials and disrupt each day life, especially those targeting mobile devices. 60% of mobile devices run on vulnerable operating systems. Furthermore, 2023 saw a record variety of mobile phishing attempts targeting enterprise users, with 2024 and beyond shaping up for an unprecedented increase. Because mobile devices contain so many endpoints, adversaries can easily gain access to devices and the information inside them. Entire chains of vulnerabilities inside each apps and operating systems make it increasingly difficult to trace these vulnerabilities.
That’s why Lookout is working with agencies to discover and address these gaps. By adopting a comprehensive mobile security strategy and mobile threat defense solutions, agencies can proactively combat these sophisticated cyberattacks, proactively hunt for unknown threats and shut the mobile security gap to make sure residents are protected
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