On Thursday, April 7th NDIA New England held its 6th annual signature cyber event at Northeastern University’s Innovation Campus in Burlington, MA. The theme for this year’s event was “Zero Trust and CMMC 2.0 – Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity.” The day-long program was devoted to covering the latest developments in the DoD’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), which includes a new model for assessing defense contractor cybersecurity practices, as well as the zero trust security model, a contemporary security paradigm mandated by President Biden’s May 2021 Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity. After a COVID-19 induced hiatus, this year’s hybrid event was the largest to date with both in-person and virtual attendees.
NDIA New England President Dr. M. Roman Hachkowski and Vice President Dan Kelly kicked things off by welcoming attendees and providing opening remarks, followed by a virtual address from Congressman Seth Moulton. Throughout the day attendees listened to panels and presentations from government, industry and service thought leaders about the DoD’s security requirements and expectations for the defense supply chain. Topics of discussion included modern security concepts, communicating supply chain cybersecurity requirements, CMMC 2.0 hot topics, cloud strategies for security and compliance, CMMC scoping, and how to recognize indicators of an insider threat.
The all-star lineup of speakers was headlined by CMMC Director Stacy Bostjanick (OSD DoD CIO). Ms. Bostjanick provided an update on CMMC 2.0 and how the Pentagon is planning to release the “interim rule” to implement its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program by May 2023. Other notable speakers included Dr. Brian Hermann, Director of Cybersecurity & Analytics for DISA who spoke about the DoD Thunderdome Program, Brigadier General (ret.) Blaine Holt who discussed cyberwarfare and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and DoD Chief Software Officer Jason Weiss who discussed a vision for Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) in the DoD.
One of the highlights of the event was being joined by the students from the Revere High School and John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science robotics clubs. These talented young men and woman demonstrated their custom-built robots for attendees and were each presented a donation by NDIA New England in support of STEM programs in our schools.
“We were honored to facilitate a discussion of Zero Trust and CMMC and how the New England National Defense Industrial Base can assist with improving the nation’s cybersecurity” said NDIA New England President Dr. M. Roman Hachkowski, “We were so happy to have the robotics clubs from Revere High School and John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics & Science join us, and we are proud to support STEM programs for our young people.”
Thank you to all the attendees, volunteers, sponsors, and speakers who made this year’s Cyber security a great success!
NDIA New England President Dr. M. Roman Hachkowski welcomes attendees to the 6th annual NDIA New England Cybersecurity event.
A packed house settles in to listen to thought leaders discuss the latest in cybersecurity and compliance issues affecting the U.S. Defense Industrial Base.
CMMC director Chief of Implementation and Policy for the DoD Stacy Bostjanick provides an update on CMMC 2.0.
Brigadier General (ret.) Blaine Holt who discussed cyberwarfare and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Students from the Revere High School and John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics & Science robotics clubs show off their custom-built robots to attendees.
NDIA New England presented each school with a donation in support of STEM programs in our schools.