WWSG Exclusive
John Kelly
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Council of Foreign Relations Conversation
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In today’s hyperconnected world where the pace of innovation continues to increase, it is no longer sufficient to plan for yesterday’s threats and respond to today’s. New and novel threats continue to emerge at the click of a mouse. Horizon scanning for emerging threats must now be a core component of any enterprise risk approach. Organizations of all sizes must recognize that they are only as secure as their weakest link- be that an employee, a customer, a supplier, a third party.
What threats are emerging—what risks of tomorrow should organizations start to address today?
National and homeland security are team sports that require the active participation of and partnership between governments, individuals and organizations of all sizes and sectors. Given today’s threats, what role should you play? How can your organization rescue its risk and increase its resilience?
Secretary Nielsen comes from a line of pioneering women in the legal, medicine and security environments. As one of few women to hold a number of senior positions in the security field, Nielsen shares her unique perspective on how to lead, build consensus and get things done.
Today cyber threats outpace any in the physical world. As governments and organizations of all sizes struggle to address cyber risk, how should risks be prioritized? Strategically, how can the myriad of risks be characterized and mitigated?
Secretary Nielsen’s career spans the public, private, operational and policy and international realms of security. She brings a unique perspective on the importance of understanding operations, technology, stakeholders, government regulatory and policy directives amidst a constantly changing and more interconnected world.
In an ever changing world, technology requirements can be difficult to identify and articulate for organizations of all types and sizes. Innovators on the other hand, often innovate in a vacuum due to the very nature of the innovative process. From years in supporting technology companies in identifying markets for their services and products and identifying technology needs for government mission execution, Ms. Nielsen continues to play a translator and matchmaker role to ensure that technology companies are not only aware of the multiple use cases for a given technology but their potential use by nefarious actors, the potential vulnerabilities the technology could present to the ecosystem and how a technology could be integrated into the security mission space.
No one organization has all of the resources, capabilities and capacities to address today’s evolving risks- and bandaid and short term fixes to today’s risks continue to prove to be both inefficient and ineffective. Instead Secretary Nielsen encourages a look at systemic risk and suggests ways to increase your organization’s resilience to all hazards.
Biography
Kirstjen Nielsen is an internationally recognized expert and proven leader on critical security issues facing governments and institutions, including enterprise risk, resiliency, cybersecurity, and emerging threats. As a former cabinet member, attorney, public servant, successful entrepreneur, subject matter expert, and regular public speaker, she brings over two decades of domestic and international experience in the homeland and national security sectors.
Secretary Nielsen’s breadth of experience stands at the crossroads of policy, strategy, and operations, providing her with a unique perspective across complex enterprise environments, and influencing her position on the importance of stakeholder engagement, the role of technology as a force multiplier, and the need to address today’s threats while still assessing and preparing for those of tomorrow.
Secretary Nielsen was sworn in as the sixth Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in December 2017 to lead the 240,000 men and women of the Department and oversee development and expenditure of its $70 billion in total annual budget authority. During Secretary Nielsen’s tenure, she directed widespread actions to increase the security and resilience of the nation against evolving threats across land, air, sea and cyber domains, including the reorganization of key parts of DHS around critical mission areas. She worked closely with Congress to ensure DHS’ dedicated employees are equipped with the right tools, resources, and authorities needed to protect the homeland.
Secretary Nielsen was previously commissioned to serve as the White House Principal Deputy Chief of Staff. Before that appointment, she had the honor of serving as the DHS Chief of Staff. From 2004-2007, Ms. Nielsen served as Special Assistant to the President for Prevention, Preparedness, and Response on the White House Homeland Security Council. She also helped to stand up the Transportation Security Administration after the tragic events of 9-11 and worked for U.S. Senator Connie Mack III.
Ms. Nielsen has advised government agencies, private sector companies, international organizations, and NGOs on assessing their risk posture and increasing their resiliency, developing crisis communications plans, understanding various policy environments, and identifying and mitigating hazards. As the President of Sunesis, a security management firm she founded, she focused on developing and executing preparedness strategies, plans, tools, and tabletop exercises to prevent, protect against and respond to catastrophic events with a focus on cybersecurity and critical infrastructure interdependencies. Currently, she is the President of Lighthouse Strategies advising NGO’s and companies—from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies—on new and emerging threats to the homeland, enterprise risk assessments and resiliency, government mission requirements, new technology use cases across the public and private security spectrum, and the mitigation of potential threats or vulnerabilities posed by new technologies.
She is a Member of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board, and the Homeland Security Experts Group. She is also a risk expert at RANE, a network of risk and security professionals focused on more efficiently responding to emerging threats and managing complex risk.
She holds a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia’s School of Law.
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