Episode 77: Sir David Omand on Leveraging How Spies Think In Our Business and Personal Lives
Release Date: 08/12/2021
Episode 117: Leading Cyber Change: Allan Friedman on the Revolution of SBOM & Future Cybersecurity Initiatives
OODAcast
Allan Friedman is a senior strategist at CISA (the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency) where he coordinates all of their cross-sector activities on the topic of SBOM: The Software Bill of Materials. Allan is widely known as a change agent in both the public and private sector. In government he led initiatives that created positive change in major community-wide initiatives around vulnerability disclosure and vulnerability management. He also championed efforts that made dramatic improvements in the ability to reduce risk due to the proliferation of Internet of Things devices...
info_outline
Episode 116: Joe Sullivan on Managing Complex Security Challenges
OODAcast
Joe Sullivan has been at the forefront of managing security risk in rapidly growing high tech companies over the past 20 years serving as the Chief Security Officer at Facebook from early start-up through the IPO, CSO of Uber and CloudFlare, and as a security leader at eBay/PayPal. Joe was also involved in a landmark legal case for a breach at Uber which resulted in a criminal conviction that serves as a precedent for executive liability in cybersecurity going forward. In this OODAcast we discuss: Joe's early career and how he got interested and involved in technology and started his...
info_outline
Episode 115: Joe Tranquillo on the Revolution in Biological Science
OODAcast
Joe Tranquillo is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Bucknell University and a provost at the school. He is also and author and speaker with a knack for helping make new and at times complex subjects understandable. In this OODAcast we discuss many aspects of the revolution in biological sciences with Joe including topics like: New ways of delivering medicines that target specific tissues Discovery of the structure of almost every human protein Methods to synthesize biomolecules, which can result in ways to manufacture a wide range of materials like therapeutics, flavors, fabrics, food,...
info_outline
Episode 114: MITRE Futurist Charles Clancy on our Quantum Enabled Future
OODAcast
Charles Clancy has successfully led technology efforts in government, industry, academia and continues to lead and innovate in his current position as Senior Vice President and GM of MITRE Labs. He is MITRE's Chief Futurist. His role in technology leadership and his tracking of tech across multiple domains made for an incredibly insightful OODAcast. We review Charles' insights into: Quantum Computing Quantum Security Artificial Intelligence Microelectronics and Friendshoring/Reshoring The March 2023 National Strategy for Cybersecurity Governance in the age of ubiquitous computing ...
info_outline
Episode 113: Mark McGrath: John Boyd Is Far More Than The OODA Loop
OODAcast
Mark McGrath has applied the teachings of John Boyd to a career that began in the Marine Corps, included leadership positions in financial services firms and consulting with businesses with a need to learn to thrive in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environments. He co-founded the consultancy AGLX and serves as its Chief Learning Officer. He is the co-host of the popular podcast “No Way Out” which is dedicated to examining and advancing the use of the theories of John Boyd to help both individuals and businesses seeking to improve their capacity for free and independent...
info_outline
Episode 112: Serene - The Hacker Pianist Saving Cyberspace
OODAcast
Serene is a hacker in the truest sense of the word. She's applied a hacker mindset to learn coding, piano, and blend art and engineering in fascinating ways. You'll find her collaborating on-stage with Grimes one night and coding censorship resistant technologies the next day. As a self-taught coder she was the first engineer hired into Google Ideas when she was just a teenager. At Google she pioneered work on WebRTC proxies that she continued as a fellow at the Open Tech Fund and was eventually released as a Tor-enabling tool called Snowflake. Serene took a hiatus from working as a...
info_outline
Episode 111: Andy Bochman on Countering Cyber Sabotage
OODAcast
Andy Bochman is the Senior Grid Strategist-Defender for Idaho National Laboratory’s National and Homeland Security directorate. In this role, Andy provides strategic guidance on topics at the intersection of grid security and climate resilience to INL leadership as well as senior U.S. and international government and industry leaders. Andy is a frequent speaker, writer, and trainer who has testified before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on energy infrastructure cybersecurity issues and before FERC on the maturity of smart grid cybersecurity standards. He has had...
info_outline
Episode 110: Spencer Ante on Creative Capital and Disruptive Innovation
OODAcast
Spencer Ante is the author or "Creative Capital: Georges Doriot and the Birth of Venture Capital", which was on my Top 10 book list for 2022. In fact, I found Doriot's story so compelling that a portrait of him hangs on the wall at the Hack Factory start-up studio in Reston, VA. Doriot is a compelling figure with an incredible story as told in Spencer's book. He was a Harvard Business School professor, responsible for launching the modern American industrial management movement, served as a General in World War II where he solved critical supply chain and logistics issues while also...
info_outline
Episode 109: Bob Zukis and the Digital Directors Network: Helping corporate boards mitigate systemic risk
OODAcast
ob Zukis is a man on a mission to improve the ability of corporate America to succeed in a complex digital world, even when under constant cyber attack. Bob is the CEO and founder of the Digital Directors Network, the global pioneer in helping corporate directors advance their understanding of systemic risk. We consider Bob to be the world's leading advocate for improving cybersecurity governance. His many articles published in major business journals and impactful books on the topic make this case well. Bob has worked with, studied, and been on corporate boards for years and now teaches...
info_outline
Episode 108: Adam Shostack on Cybersecurity and What Every Engineer Should Learn From Star Wars
OODAcast
Adam Shostack is widely known in the cybersecurity world for his pioneering work on disclosing and discussing computer vulnerabilities (the CVE (common vulnerabilities and exposures) list). He also helped formalize and train leading approaches to threat modeling and wrote the foundational book on the subject (). In this OODAcast we seek lessons from Adam’s career and experiences (which range from startups to nearly a decade at Microsoft, as well as the Blackhat review board, as well as being an Affiliate Professor at University of Washington). We then dive deep into Adam’s most...
info_outlineSir David Omand is one of the most respected intelligence professionals in the world and author of the book How Spies Think: Ten lessons in intelligence.
His career in intelligence began shortly after graduating from Cambridge in 1969 when he joined the UK's GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters). He would later become the director of GCHQ. He also served as the first UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator, the most senior intelligence, counter-terror and homeland security position in the UK.
In this OODAcast we discuss lessons in leadership from his time in the intelligence service and his views on the current threat environment, including threats to nations, corporations and citizens of the free world. We also examine how his time in intelligence informed his own models for understanding and analyzing complex situations and how this motivated him to write How Spies Think.
We examine concepts critical to any corporate or government intelligence organization, including:
- The need to understand history for critical context (Like Churchill put it, "the further back you look, the further ahead you can see").
- Why trained defense lawyers can make good deception planners
- How to find balance between being separate enough from decision-makers so they do not bias you but close enough so you can know their plans and know how to influence them
- The importance of building trust throughout the organization and with partners and consumers
- The new realities of the information age, including new tools at the disposal of adversaries
- New mental models for analysis
The interview also examines Omand's lessons by use of a framework he developed to capture the essence of how intelligence analysts and operational decision makers can deal with the modern information environment through perception and analysis. He calls this the SEES model. SEES stands for:
- Situational Awareness: A baseline understanding of the situation gained through observation.
- Explanation: Contextualizing facts so they can be better understood.
- Estimation: The formal methods used to articulate what is known and what may be coming.
- Strategic Notice: The provision of actionable insights to decision-makers.
This model is examined in the context of both history and current operations in a way that can inform how intelligence is used not only by governments but by businesses and citizens.
Related Resources
How Spies Think: Ten lessons in intelligence
Black Swans and Gray Rhinos
Now more than ever, organizations need to apply rigorous thought to business risks and opportunities. In doing so it is useful to understand the concepts embodied in the terms Black Swan and Gray Rhino. See: Potential Future Opportunities, Risks and Mitigation Strategies in the Age of Continuous Crisis
Cybersecurity Sensemaking: Strategic intelligence to inform your decisionmaking
The OODA leadership and analysts have decades of experience in understanding and mitigating cybersecurity threats and apply this real world practitioner knowledge in our research and reporting. This page on the site is a repository of the best of our actionable research as well as a news stream of our daily reporting on cybersecurity threats and mitigation measures. See: Cybersecurity Sensemaking
Corporate Sensemaking: Establishing an Intelligent Enterprise
OODA’s leadership and analysts have decades of direct experience helping organizations improve their ability to make sense of their current environment and assess the best courses of action for success going forward. This includes helping establish competitive intelligence and corporate intelligence capabilities. Our special series on the Intelligent Enterprise highlights research and reports that can accelerate any organization along their journey to optimized intelligence. See: Corporate Sensemaking