Auburn University and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering recently hosted the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director and assistant director during a two-day event. 

CISA Director Christopher C. Krebs delivered his address Aug. 22, laying out the agency’s five principles for defending today’s cyber infrastructure and securing the cyber tools of tomorrow. 

Krebs said that the five principles are leadership and collaboration, risk-prioritization, results-oriented, respect for national values and unified mission and agency. 

“We have to be relentless in driving down risk, in pushing awareness of the things that need to be done by the state and local community and by the federal community. That’s our job,” Krebs said. “[Our job is] understanding what the risks are, bringing people together to manage these issues and then building capacity.”

Brian Harrell, CISA’s assistant director, spoke the following day, Aug. 23, outlining unique cyber threats facing the national infrastructure and pledged his agency’s assistance in addressing them head-on. 

“There is a convergence between physical and cybersecurity,” Harrell said. “Today, we can no longer live in these silos – the cyber silo, the physical silo and the emergency management silo. It is a converged, hybrid threat landscape today.”