Ask Sage's Nicolas Chaillan on moving the DOD to zero trust and deploying Kubernetes in space
04/23/24 • 48 min
In this week’s episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by Nicolas Chaillan. Nicolas is a security leader who has held several high-profile roles in US federal agencies including Chief Software Officer for the US Air Force and Space Force, Special Advisor for Cloud Security and DevSecOps at the Department of Defense (DOD), and Special Advisor for Cybersecurity and Chief Architect for Cyber.gov at the Department of Homeland Security. He is also the founder of no less than 13 companies, including Ask Sage, a GPT-powered platform that brings Generative AI capabilities to government teams.
Nicolas and Thomas discuss:
Building the US government's first zero trust implementation
Putting Kubernetes on jets and space systems
The challenges of bringing new technologies to the federal government
How the threat landscape will continue to evolve for US federal agencies
The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make
How cross-team collaboration helped him create meaningful change at the DOD
The future of AI in security
The inspiration behind his AI-powered platform, Ask Sage
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the smart, secure workflow builder that powers some of the world’s most important workflows. https://www.tines.com/solutions/security
Where to find Nicolas Chaillan:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaschaillan/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/NicolasChaillan
Nic's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt7jKHaxWS8W_4rcKGg7X9w
Ask Sage: https://www.asksage.ai/
Where to find Thomas Kinsella:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kinsella/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thomasksec
Tines: https://www.tines.com/
Resources mentioned:
Making An Impact: Nicolas Chaillan, CEO Magazine: https://www.theceomagazine.com/executive-interviews/government-defence/nicolas-chaillan/
In this episode:
[02:20] Becoming a self-taught coder at 7 and founding his first company at 15
[05:02] Shipping 187+ technology products as a founder, in verticals as varied as healthcare, retail and banking
[07:08] The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make
[08:40] His latest product, generative AI platform Ask Sage
[11:30] The challenges of bringing a new product to the US government
[13:45] Building the first zero trust implementation in the government as Special Advisor for Cybersecurity at the Department of Homeland Security
[15:20] Advocating for new technologies at federal agencies
[19:40] Deploying Kubernetes on 50-year-old hardware on the F16 jet at the Department of Defense
[22:02] Dealing with pushback and internal resistance to change
[24:50] Recruiting internal help to establish force-wide DevSecOps at the DOD
[29:00] Becoming Federal Chief Technology Officer at Qualys
[30:30] Reflecting on the changes he implemented while working for the US government
[33:12] Deciding which companies to work with as an advisory board member
[36:40] How the threat landscape will continue to evolve for US federal agencies
[40:50] TikTok as a channel for misinformation and national security weapon
[44:18] Nicolas' predictions for the future of security
[47: 10] Connect with Nicolas
In this week’s episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by Nicolas Chaillan. Nicolas is a security leader who has held several high-profile roles in US federal agencies including Chief Software Officer for the US Air Force and Space Force, Special Advisor for Cloud Security and DevSecOps at the Department of Defense (DOD), and Special Advisor for Cybersecurity and Chief Architect for Cyber.gov at the Department of Homeland Security. He is also the founder of no less than 13 companies, including Ask Sage, a GPT-powered platform that brings Generative AI capabilities to government teams.
Nicolas and Thomas discuss:
Building the US government's first zero trust implementation
Putting Kubernetes on jets and space systems
The challenges of bringing new technologies to the federal government
How the threat landscape will continue to evolve for US federal agencies
The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make
How cross-team collaboration helped him create meaningful change at the DOD
The future of AI in security
The inspiration behind his AI-powered platform, Ask Sage
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the smart, secure workflow builder that powers some of the world’s most important workflows. https://www.tines.com/solutions/security
Where to find Nicolas Chaillan:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaschaillan/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/NicolasChaillan
Nic's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt7jKHaxWS8W_4rcKGg7X9w
Ask Sage: https://www.asksage.ai/
Where to find Thomas Kinsella:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kinsella/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thomasksec
Tines: https://www.tines.com/
Resources mentioned:
Making An Impact: Nicolas Chaillan, CEO Magazine: https://www.theceomagazine.com/executive-interviews/government-defence/nicolas-chaillan/
In this episode:
[02:20] Becoming a self-taught coder at 7 and founding his first company at 15
[05:02] Shipping 187+ technology products as a founder, in verticals as varied as healthcare, retail and banking
[07:08] The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make
[08:40] His latest product, generative AI platform Ask Sage
[11:30] The challenges of bringing a new product to the US government
[13:45] Building the first zero trust implementation in the government as Special Advisor for Cybersecurity at the Department of Homeland Security
[15:20] Advocating for new technologies at federal agencies
[19:40] Deploying Kubernetes on 50-year-old hardware on the F16 jet at the Department of Defense
[22:02] Dealing with pushback and internal resistance to change
[24:50] Recruiting internal help to establish force-wide DevSecOps at the DOD
[29:00] Becoming Federal Chief Technology Officer at Qualys
[30:30] Reflecting on the changes he implemented while working for the US government
[33:12] Deciding which companies to work with as an advisory board member
[36:40] How the threat landscape will continue to evolve for US federal agencies
[40:50] TikTok as a channel for misinformation and national security weapon
[44:18] Nicolas' predictions for the future of security
[47: 10] Connect with Nicolas
Previous Episode
The NFL's George Griesler on securing the Super Bowl and reducing risk through collaboration
In this week’s episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by George Griesler. George has been working in cybersecurity since 1997, when he assumed the role of Senior Network administrator at the United States Golf Association (USGA), eventually advancing to Director of Information Security. He currently serves as the Senior Director of Cybersecurity at the National Football League (NFL), where he works to secure events like the Super Bowl, which in 2024 was the most-watched telecast ever.
George and Thomas discuss:
What security operations looked like in 1997
Protecting the secrets of regulation golf equipment at the USGA
The shift in security and privacy needs at live sports events
Securing scents, flavors, and other chemical formulations at IFF
Preparing for Super Bowl LXXVIII in the wake of the MGM Resorts cyber attack
The Super Bowl threat profile, from scoreboard hacking to stadium credentials
Collaborating with cybersecurity experts from CISA, the FBI, Caesars Palace, and the MGM Grand.
Aligning security operations with physical security
The reality of working on high-pressure events
The benefits of knowledge sharing with other teams working on live sports events
The importance of relationship building across internal security teams:
The potential of automation, orchestration, and AI in incident response
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the smart, secure workflow builder that powers some of the world’s most important workflows. https://www.tines.com/solutions/security
Where to find George Griesler:
NFL: https://www.nfl.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgegriesler/
Where to find Thomas Kinsella:
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thomasksec
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kinsella/
Tines: https://www.tines.com/
Resources mentioned:
A Cyberattack Shuts Down MGM Resorts In Las Vegas And Other Cities: https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2023/09/12/a-cyberattack-mgm-resorts-las-vegas/?sh=c1b5096505c0
The 1,000-ton screen bringing Super Bowl LVI to the lucky fans inside the stadium: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/11/sport/super-bowl-lvi-samsung-infinity-screen-sofi-stadium-tech-spc-intl/index.html
In this episode:
[01:50] What infrastructure management and incident response looked like in 1997
[03:30] His projects at the United States Golf Association (USGA), including securing a golf handicap information network
[06:05] Witnessing the digital transformation of live sports events
[08:40] Securing flavors, scents and other chemical formulations at IFF
[13:20] Building a threat model for large OT environments
[15:30] Increasing security awareness and culture across the organization
[17:45] Moving to the NFL
[21:20] How George's team prepare for the Super Bowl
[24:10] Partnering with cybersecurity experts at CISA, the FBI, and local partners in Las Vegas like Caesars Palace and the MGM Grand.
[27:00] The Super Bowl's threat profile, from scoreboard hacking to stadium credentials to online identities of individual players
[29:20] Inside the NFL's Super Bowl command centre
[30:40] Ensuring the team is supported to handle high-pressure events
[32:55] Knowledge sharing with security teams on other live sports events, from The Olympics to the World Cup
[37:00] Reducing risk through collaboration across the security team
[38:35] AI as a defender tool and attacker tool
[41:50] The future of the SOC
[43:15] Connect with George
Next Episode
Afni's Brent Deterding on deploying MFA for 10,000 employees and becoming "the Happy CISO"
In this week’s episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by Brent Deterding. Brent has over 25 years of experience in security, both on the vendor side and now as a security leader. He spent a big part of his career with cloud-native security analytics platform SecureWorks, and he’s currently the CISO of Afni, a global provider of contact center solutions in the U.S., Philippines, and Mexico.
Brent and Thomas discuss:
His unconventional path to becoming a CISO
Building a security team with zero attrition
Removing the burden of stress in incident response
Strategies for risk prioritization
Facing off against cybercriminal group Scattered Spider
Why prioritization and leadership are among security's biggest challenges
Being dubbed "the happy CISO" after reporting high levels of job satisfaction
Brent's four security non-negotiables
The right way to approach CISOs as a security vendor
Measuring success when you're metrics-averse
What the SOC will - and should - look like in five years
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the smart, secure workflow builder that powers some of the world’s most important workflows. https://www.tines.com/solutions/security
Where to find Brent Deterding:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent-deterding/
Afni: https://www.afni.com/
Where to find Thomas Kinsella:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kinsella/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thomasksec
Tines: https://www.tines.com/
Resources mentioned:
How to connect with me as a vendor by Brent Deterding on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7146566282128076800/
In this episode:
[01:56] Brent's unconventional path to becoming a CISO
[04:10] Finding the right fit at Afni
[06:09] Separating his identity from his job and removing the burden of stress
[10:22] Why Brent sees risk prioritization and leadership as security's biggest challenges
[13:02] Brent's first steps as CISO at Afni including deploying MFA across 10,000 employees
[16:29] Going up against threat group Scattered Spider
[17:43] Brent's custom risk frameworks
[23:03] Measuring success as someone who's metrics-averse
[26:19] How Brent developed his unique leadership style
[29:13] Supporting his team to do their best work
[31:55] Brent's tips for security vendors
[36:07] Using AI for resilience and protection
[39:20] What security could and should look like in five years
[42:53] Connect with Brent
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