Against the backdrop of an anticipated increase in cyberattacks from Russia, the Arizona Junior Fellows hosted an expert panel at Arizona State University on Monday on the future of cybersecurity, as part of their Future of Arizona Democracy series. 

The panel was moderated by President-Emerita of the Arizona Board of Regents and former Arizona Treasurer Eileen Klein. The panel consisted of Arizona Department of Homeland Security Director Tim Roemer; Klon Kitchen, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; Brian Elisco, CEO of Abrazo Health and Gregg Davis, president of Global Market Innovators. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the retaliatory sanctions and American and western support for Ukraine has American government and private sector leaders on high alert for attacks originating from Russia or from non-state actors sympathetic to the regime of Vladimir Putin. 

On Monday, the White House urged businesses to implement to improve their cybersecurity.

While the federal government can urge the private sector to improve overall cybersecurity, the government’s ability to help is often limited. Intelligence on cyber threats often cannot be shared with those who do not have a security clearance. Additionally, the government generally is not as familiar with companies’ technology and vulnerabilities as in-house cybersecurity teams.

“The federal government is increasingly a stakeholder in cybersecurity and not the stakeholder in it.” Kitchen said. “For example, Google has done the same if not more than the government for preventing cyber-attacks in Ukraine.”

Kitchen explained that even as cybersecurity becomes more important, it is important that the government does not overreach its authority. 

“We don’t want to just be secure. We want to be secured and free,” he said. “We want to make sure that we maintain the things we’re trying to keep secure and not give them away in the name or security.”

Arizona is one of two states with a Department of Homeland Security. Part of AZDHS’s responsibilities are to ensure the state government remains protected from cyberattacks and helps private sector businesses improve their resilience. 

“There’s not one specific piece of government that can handle this on their own,” Roemer said. “The best way to combat this is through partnerships between the public and private sector.”

Elisco praised Arizona’s approach to cybersecurity. 

“What surprised me the most coming into the state of Arizona was how accessible our government officials really are and how open they are to collaboration,” he said.

However, Elisco added that cyberattacks are not always complicated attacks. 

“Some of the largest cyberattacks in healthcare are some of the simplest emails that look like they were sent internally,” he said.

The panel concluded by discussing various cybersecurity measures that the public can implement: enable two-factor authentication, change passwords, think twice about clicking on links in emails, and adopt an attitude of “see something, say something.”

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The Arizona Junior Fellows along with the Arizona State University School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership are collaborating with the American Enterprise Institute to host a panel on cybersecurity titled Cybersecurity and the Future. The event is sponsored by Global Market Innovators.

The focus of the panel will be to discuss how Arizona has adapted to new cybersecurity threats, how those efforts compare to other states and jurisdictions, and how the public and private sectors can work together to prevent cyberattacks and better protect consumer privacy.

National cybersecurity expert Klon Kitchen will join policymakers, business leaders, and university students and faculty for the event. Kitchen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has previously worked at the National Counterterrorism Center and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Joining Klon is Tim Roemer, the director of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security. Roemer recently led the effort to create the Cyber Command Center, which serves as the state’s headquarters for cybersecurity operations.

Gregg Davis, the president of Global Market Innovators, and Brian Elisco, the CEO of Tenet-Abrazo will also join the panel. Davis and Elisco will be bringing the business leaders’ perspectives to this cybersecurity conversation.

The event will be moderated by Eileen Klein, the former Arizona treasurer and president emerita of the Arizona Board of Regents, as well as a former healthcare executive.

Cybercrime the world a collective $3 trillion in 2015 and is expected to cost $10.5 trillion by 2025. Arizona has been no stranger to the danger presented by cyber-attacks, as researchers estimate that data breaches from 2005 to 2020 cost the state $1.6 billion. In that time frame Arizona had 181 data breaches, putting more than 10 million records at risk. 

Despite these attacks, Arizona has been for itscommunity-based and cross-sectoral approach to cybersecurity that emphasizes trust and collaboration between government agencies and private companies. 

This includes the recent establishment of the command center, which will serve as Arizona’s headquarters for coordinating cybersecurity operations. 

As more personal data like banking information and medical records are transferred into the digital world, there is an increased risk of cyber-attacks that undermine public and private enterprises. People, companies, and governments are looking for new solutions to rising cybercrime as it becomes a more prominent issue.

About the event

The Future of Arizona Democracy: Cybersecurity and the Future will be hosted from 5:00-6:15 pm at ASU’s Old Main (400 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281) on Monday, March 21, 2022.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is available .This event is a part of the series, “,” which is produced by the Arizona Junior Fellows in partnership with the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. The Arizona Junior Fellows are a project of the Arizona �鶹��ýӳ�� Foundation. They conduct research in a variety of fields in order to communicate important issues to policymakers and business leaders.

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An uptick of coronavirus-themed cyber attacks on hospitals, pharmaceutical laboratories and even the trucking industry in recent weeks reveal the need for businesses to double down on security to ensure their networks are protected, a leading cyber security expert said. 

Many of the attacks were ransomware, holding companies’ network systems hostage until a payout was made. 

Some companies, particularly small and mid-sized businesses, might not survive such an attack, said John Zanni, CEO of Scottsdale-based Acronis SCS, a in edge data security and cyber protection in the U.S. public sector.

“The pandemic has increased impacts on businesses significantly. Unfortunately, many are not equipped to deal with them,”��said Zanni, whose company caters to public sector entities including local, state and federal government organizations as well as branches of the U.S. military.��

Zanni strongly advises organizations to beef up network safety. The cost is minimal and today’s technology is highly effective. 

A large organization that has its IT system knocked out can pay in the “hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars” to fly in a forensics firm to fix the damage, Zanni said. For smaller private sector entities, the cost can put them out of commission.

“If someone breaks into your business, you call 911,” he said. “If you call 911 and say, ‘I’m suffering a ransomware attack,’ they don’t know what to do. It’s a big problem.”  

COVID-19 has brought the issue into the limelight as more employees work from home, doctors conduct telemedicine appointments, and online purchases soar.  

Cyber criminals wreaking havoc with the word “corona”

Under COVID-19, cyber criminals are having a field day, honing in on companies in countries like the United States that are in the throes of fighting the virus.

To illustrate the threat, only 190 domain names included the word ‘corona’ last year, Zanni said. In  March, there were more than 30,000.

“Some are legitimate but most of them are not,” he said. “We’ve also seen a 127 percent increase in exposed desktop protocol endpoints. 

“So now we’re all working at home and the bad guys have realized there are a lot of holes in being connected to a corporate network or other business from home systems.”

Anyone with connectivity is at risk. Phishing scams claiming to be from the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization are a common ruse right now. 

Government agencies number one target

While all businesses are at risk, the majority of cyber attackers target government agencies in search of sensitive data, Zanni said. That impacts businesses as well. 

When Baltimore had to shut down operations after a cyber attack last year, companies were unable to carry out everyday transactions like getting permits approved and bills paid. The city lost millions of dollars in potential and delayed revenue. 

Atlanta and New Orleans also were hit by cyber attacks in the past two years, also costing millions of dollars in recovery costs. 

Lawmakers starting to act  

Attacks like these are prompting new state-level policies regarding whether government agencies should be permitted to pay ransoms in ransomware attacks.

Last year, Congress also introduced the to use the federal government’s procurement power by requiring that devices purchased by the U.S. government meet certain minimum security requirements. That could lead the way for manufacturers to include security in all devices. 

It’s one of many cyber security bills awaiting action in Congress.

Concerned over the rash of COVID-19-related threats, a of major tech groups also is asking Congress to allocate a portion of the next coronavirus stimulus bill to help local and state governments to defend against the costly attacks.

All-in-one solution for online security  

Meanwhile, companies can protect themselves with minimal investment in solutions that do more than just block viruses and malware, Zanni said. 

Acronis SCS and its international parent company, Acronis AIG, are the first to provide integrated security features in one package, he said. 

In addition to endpoint security features like anti-malware and anti-ransomware, they provide backup, disaster recovery, storage, and patch management capabilities. While Acronis SCS exclusively serves US public sector organizations, Acronis AIG serves the commercial market. With Acronis AIG, small and medium-sized businesses with a larger server will pay about $1,500 a year. For a home user, the cost is about $50 per year.

Multi-step authentication to become the norm 

In the near future, extra security measures will become the norm, Zanni believes. 

COVID-19 is accelerating the need for it. Gone are the days when people left their doors unlocked and their keys in their cars, he said.

Digital devices are moving in a similar direction, he said. A safe login and password will no longer be sufficient. Dual factor authentication and integrated cyber security protection will become business as usual. 

“This is just as important as locking the doors of your business at night.”

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Grand Canyon University has been recognized as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD).

The private university was designated as a CAE-CD by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for working to reduce vulnerability in National Information Infrastructure through higher education.

“Oftentimes, the government sector will recruit from schools that have this designation because they know they have been vetted by the NSA and DHS as an approved program,” Grand Canyon University (GCU) Associate Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology Heather Monthie said. “This opens up opportunities within the government sector, like the Department of Defense, NSA, DHS and organizations like the CIA to our students.”

There are currently more cybersecurity jobs available than people to fill them, according to the White House’s National Cyber Strategy. GCU is working to combat that through multiple online and on-campus programs.

The programs that help produce qualified cyber defense individuals include the school’s CAE-CD designated Bachelor of Science in Information Technology with an emphasis in Cybersecurity and its state-of-the-art Cyber Center of Excellence, which gives students and the public a hands-on learning opportunity.

“This is a big deal. This is essentially the NSA and DHS’s stamp of approval on our cybersecurity program,” Monthie added. “They approve of everything that’s in our program and the fact that we have cybersecurity integrated into other programs.”

GCU has also started hosting virtual career fairs for students who attend a school that has a CAE-CD designation. The fair will include employers such as the NSA, IBM, Air Force Civilian Service and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Photo by GrandCanyonU via Wikimedia Commons.

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Northern Arizona University was recently awarded a federal grant for its work in cyber-engineering and cybersecurity.

The world today is more intertwined with technology than ever. Financial systems, cloud-based storage, data records and even something as common as email all rely on technology.

As technology becomes more integrated in society, the risk of cyberattacks from external hackers grows. In fact, according to the , cybercrime will cost entities around the world approximately $6 trillion annually by 2021.

In an effort to curb the growth of cyberthreats, NAU is developing cutting-edge solutions.

With a three-year, $6.3 million grant from the United States Air Force, NAU professors Dr. Bertrand Cambou and Dr. Paul Flikemma will examine new hardware technologies to stay one step ahead of today’s — and, more importantly, tomorrow’s — hackers.

“One of the issues here is the hackers are essentially ahead of us,” Cambou said. “They always find new techniques and new ideas to fool existing assets, because at the end of the day, firewall and virus protections will be protecting an asset against a normal attack. Which means a lot of the cybersecurity is programmed to keep listing existing attacks. Which means the Department of Defense and the Air Force are looking at solutions to be ahead of the hacker — to do things that are essentially going to be disrupting the status quo.”

The project started as a pitch to the Air Force four years ago. Cambou and his team presented their cybersecurity solutions, and Air Force officials were fascinated by the idea, investing in a proof of concept. The team spent the following summer in a secure Air Force facility fleshing out ideas.

Cambou’s team is comprised of mathematicians, physicians, electrical engineers, and others. Because of the diverse talent pool on the team and the relatively hands-off structure of the university, the team can advance their ideas quickly, Cambou explained.��

“You have to look at the award we got in that context — we are essentially looking at disruptive methods, we’re looking at post-quantum computing-capable methods,” Cambou said. “When I established the cybersecurity up here at NAU, I wanted NAU to be on the forefront of cybersecurity, not like the 400 programs that offer cybersecurity. The idea was to be one step ahead, and the idea was to be post-quantum computing-protected.”

The team plans to develop new cybersecurity solutions including “unclonable functions,” cryptography, blockchain and key distribution. Cambou mentions that these new methods will help technological infrastructures across industries, including medical, financial and transportation.��

“We are more vulnerable to cyberattacks because it’s not just losing an email or something like that,” Cambou noted. “Now, you are talking about financial transaction, self-driving cars, the power grid, shutting down planes, shutting down hospitals — [we] as a society [are] more and more connected and [are] relying on cloud services… relying on cyber environments.”

Technology is growing, and hacking with it. With new threats to cybersecurity every day, the world has to adapt and develop new solutions to bolster its infrastructure. Thanks to Cambou and his team at NAU, that fortification is already underway.

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Cyber protection and edge data security company Acronis SCS opened its new headquarters recently, where it announced the launch of its Acronis SCSVets initiative.

The Scottsdale-based celebrated the opening of its�� by hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier this month, awarding the company’s Tribute to Service Art Contest winners. The Acronis SCSVets initiative aims to widen veteran access to cyber career opportunities with tailored, in-person training.

“We are committed to advancing Arizona’s position as a thriving tech hub and excited to accelerate our support for the U.S. public sector from our new headquarters,” Acronis SCS CEO John Zanni said in a . “In launching the Acronis SCSVets initiative, we are doing our part to narrow the cyber workforce shortage and provide America’s veterans, active military and military spouses with the skills they need to succeed in a demanding field.”

According to Acronis SCS, Arizona has a larger-than-average veteran population and more than 13,000 IT jobs open across the state. The SCSVets program will benefit the state by providing the veteran and military community training at zero cost.

The program is also unique in two key ways, according to the company.

First, the initiative prioritizes online learning and provides in-person training to members of Arizona’s veteran community that is tailored to their needs and experiences. Second, it is focused on connecting participants with Arizona’s small- and medium-sized businesses that are in immediate need of cybersecurity talent, because those businesses are less likely to be able to develop robust veteran-hiring programs.

“As a 26-year Air Force veteran, I am grateful for Acronis SCS’s commitment to help veterans and military spouses pursue tech careers. Military spouses in particular are an untapped group of resilient innovators who are significantly unemployed and underemployed even in this booming economy,” United States Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) said at the opening. “It is great to see Acronis SCS invest in Arizona and our vets and military families.”

Acronis SCS’s new facility is home to more than 30 employees focused on , around 20 percent of whom are U.S. military veterans. According to the company, it aims to expand its employee footprint across diverse fields including marketing, sales and network administration.

“Arizona continues to be a top destination for tech innovators like Acronis SCS,” Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said about the opening. “We are proud the company has chosen to call Arizona home, and we thank Acronis SCS for its continued investment in our state.”

The facility will house a community room that will be available for veteran-focused nonprofits in need of a meeting space. It will also serve as home to the Acronis SCSVets in-person career training workshops every quarter.��

SCSVets pledges to provide at least 300 veterans, active duty military and military spouses with the credentials, skills and resources needed to pursue a career in cybersecurity within its first five years. It has a “robust network” of partners including New Horizons of Phoenix, the Arizona Coalition for Military Families and Veteran Transition Mission.

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