Ahead of the Threat Podcast: Season 2, Episode 6: Deneen DeFiore

Ahead of the Threat takes off to the skies! United Airlines Chief Information Security Officer and Vice President Deneen DeFiore joins host FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Brett Leatherman to learn how the aviation industry protects passengers and airline systems from cyberattacks. Deneen shares that airlines are already built around how to handle imperfect days and conditions, so a cybersecurity posture is baked in by ensuring resiliency (no delays) and safety (for passenger data and transport). This leads to greater cooperation—collective protection, as Deneen puts it—among the airlines despite competition and a strong FBI partnership to obtain the latest threat intelligence because flying safely from Point A to Point B requires the work of thousands of people with as many processes. Joining Brett to discuss the news is Todd Hemmen, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Capabilities Branch, which surges technical teams and engages with industry. Current event topics include the extradition by the Italian government of a Chinese national accused of compromising nearly 13,000 U.S. organizations, including medical workers developing the COVID-19 vaccine; Operation Masquerade, an FBI effort to disrupt Russian military cyber operations; and a U.K. joint advisory warning the industry of Chinese government attempts to compromise consumer edge devices and use those devices to covertly find and attack new victims.