Earlier this month, thirty-nine year military veteran General Michael Hayden addressed a full house at MIRcon® 2013. He identified the key players in the cybersecurity arena while providing insight into what drives modern cyber-terrorists.  General Hayden believes there’s been a shift from simple criminal mischief to something far more sinister. These individuals are interested in tearing down entire systems, and the federal government needs to recognize that as a tactical threat and proactively try to prevent it.

When you’ve got some of the cybersecurity industry’s best and brightest practitioners in one room, just how do you top the conversations they’re having across the breakfast table? By getting one of the foremost experts on cybersecurity to deliver a top notch speech on the future of the industry, threat actors, and strategies for businesses to survive and prosper in a hostile environment! This was the scene last week as General Michael Hayden, a thirty-nine year military veteran, former director of the National Security Administration (NSA) and CIA, and currently Principal at the Chertoff Group, addressed a packed house at MIRcon® 2013.

Hayden framed his talk by identifying the three key players in the cybersecurity arena – the attackers, the government, and the private sector. He gave the room pause for thought as he described how both state-based threat vectors and private groups and individuals are becoming more sophisticated and more deliberate in their cyber attacks. Using the analogy of the rising tide lifting all boats, Hayden explained that all attackers are becoming better at what they do and less interested in data theft and more in system-wide destruction.

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