Cyber Lecture Series

2019 Cyber Guests

October 19, 2019

Special Assistant to the President for Cyber, Joshua Steinman, delivered a lecture on cyber security to midshipmen, faculty, and staff in Alumni Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy, Tuesday, Nov. 19. 

Mr.  Joshua Steinman currently serves on the National Security Council and is the Special Assistant to the President for Cyber. He has a distinguished career in both public and private industry. First, as a naval officer serving in the United States and abroad, then as a senior private sector executive in Silicon Valley. While working for the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Steinman, conceptualized, authored multiple white papers on, and advocated for the creation of a "Department of Defense Embassy" in Silicon Valley. This concept was eventually approved and implemented by the Secretary of Defense in early 2015 as the Defense Innovation Unit - an entity that helps the DoD integrate emerging technology into the defense of the nation. 

During his lecture, Steinman discussed the future of cyber operations and provided advice for navigating a career in cyber warfare

“What I learned most from this lecture was how undefined the cyber domain is right now,” said Midshipman 4th Class Jeffrey Peters, who aspires to enter the cyber community. “Our traditional definitions of warfare, which western civilization has used for so long, don’t really fit within the realities of global warfare.”

After the lecture, Steinman answered questions from midshipmen, many of which focused on the use of cyber security practices and their effect on national policy. Steinman also met with a group of midshipmen and faculty to further discuss how the field of cyber security impacts the Naval Academy.

October 8, 2019

Ms. Julliane Gallina, Central Intelligence Agency, Chief Information Officer

CIA Chief Information Officer Gives Cyber Lecture at USNA

Central Intelligence Agency, Chief Information Officer, Ms. Juliane Gallina delivered a lecture on cyber security to the midshipmen, faculty, and staff in Alumni Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy.  The speaker was a graduate of the USNA’s class of 1992, where she was the first female to hold the position of Brigade Commander since the USNA’s inception in 1845. 

Prior to her current role, Ms. Gallina served as the Vice President of IBM's US Federal Key Accounts, which included the Intelligence Community, the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Defense as well as Federal Health and Bureau of Fiscal Services accounts. Her business units delivered enterprise security, cloud, hybrid cloud, analytics and artificial intelligence software solutions. At IBM, Ms. Gallina led several efforts to prototype and scale-out artificial intelligence technology to global national security clients. 

As CIO and D/ITE, Ms. Gallina is responsible for all Agency IT systems and personnel, as well as its global communications network.  She plays a leading role in CIA's growing partnerships with industry and ensuring that the Agency harnesses rapidly evolving digital technology to advance its mission.

Ms. Gallina attended a luncheon prior to giving her presentation, where she got to know some of the midshipmen pursuing the USNA’s Cyber Security major. 

“It’s always fascinating to hear from experts in the cyber field,” said Midshipmen 1st Class Ally Annick, who attended the lunch. “As a woman in cyber operations, I value the opportunity to hear from someone who paved the way for us here at the USNA and in our field of work.”

During the lecture, Ms. Gallina focused on the increasing prevalence of electronic threats to the rapidly evolving cyber landscape of the military.  Additionally, she touched on the vast amount of internet users, and the exponential increase of suspicious cyber events and associated threat sources.

“In every warfare domain we are counting on these future officers to understand how to seize and maintain decisive and overwhelming advantage.  Advances in technology will require all officers to manage opportunities and challenges presented by the new cyber threat landscape. In our CIA Directorate of Digital Innovation we like to encourage our officers to “collaborate, adapt and dominate.” I think that is good advice for future Navy and Marine Corps officers, too.  They too will need to think about multi-disciplinary approaches to improve their tradecraft and maintain strategic advantage.” - Juliane Gallina, CIA Chief Information Officer

Afterwards, the former USNA graduate, handed out challenge coins and fielded questions from the audience; 

“It is always wonderful to feel part of something bigger than yourself, and coming back “home” to USNA made me reflect on how grateful I am to have my roots at USNA.  The brigade is engaged, smart and curious. It made me proud to think we share a tradition of service. It was a true privilege to spend the day with them, and I hope to return the favor by hosting a visit to the CIA for the brigade’s future cyber warriors soon.” - Juliane Gallina, CIA Chief Information Officer 

As a college of our country's naval service, this institution prepares young men and women to become professional officers of competence, character, and compassion in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.  Bringing back success stories, like that of Ms. Juliane Gallina, demonstrates to the Academy’s midshipmen how important their education will be to the future of the United States Naval Service.  

March 26, 2019

Kevin Mandia, CEO, FireEye

Kevin Mandia has been FireEye CEO since June 2016 and a member of the FireEye Board of Directors since February 2016. 

Mr. Mandia spent several hours at the Naval Academy speaking to hundreds of midshipmen interested in cyber operations. Presenting to students in a small group setting as well as hundreds in Alumni Hall gave the students an opportunity to get as much out of the visit as possible. First Class Midshipman Lucian Rombado states "Mr. Mandia impressed me with his ability to connect with us as beginners in the cyber major. The stories he shared of his early years in cyber made me even more excited to serve alongside him and his FireEye team in the common cyber fight."  While First Class Midshipman Ally Annick thought "he offered a unique perspective when speaking on foreign cyber." She found his involvement in the military and civilian sectors to be most interesting. And Second Class Midshipman Nick Walden appreciated how Mr. Mandia "took his technical cyber expertise and enhanced it with a geopolitical understanding of nations and how they react to effectively fulfill the requirements of his job." 

The Naval Academy appreciates the time Mr. Mandia dedicated to helping extend the Center for Cyber Security Studies goal of enhancing the education of midshipmen in all areas of cyber war.