Cybersecurity: Threats, policy, and responses

Date & time

Sep 30, 2020, 4:00-5:00 pm EDT

Location

This is a Virtual Event.

Over the last decade cybersecurity issues have risen in prominence in both the public and private spheres—there have been near daily reports regarding cyber operations launched by nation states, hacking groups and criminal organizations. Cybersecurity was a key issue in the 2016 Presidential election, and as we head toward the 2020 election during the upheaval of the coronavirus pandemic it remains at the forefront. In this conversation, Paul Abbate, Associate Deputy Director of the FBI, and David Levy, Vice President of Amazon Web Services, will discuss some of the challenges in addressing current cybersecurity threats, formulating policy, and calibrating responses. Law Professor Barbara McQuade will moderate the discussion.

Join the conversation: #policytalks

From the speakers' bios

Paul M. Abbate is the associate deputy director of the FBI. In this position, he is responsible for the management of all FBI personnel, budget, administration, and infrastructure. Prior to his appointment in 2018, Abbate was the executive assistant director for the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing all FBI criminal and cyber investigations worldwide, international operations, critical incident response, and victim assistance.

Abbate began his FBI career in March 1996 as a special agent assigned to the New York Field Office, where he worked in the Criminal Division and served as a member of the SWAT Team. He has since worked in many positions within the FBI, including deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, serving as a supervisory special agent within the Newark Division’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, and special agent in charge of the Detroit Division, covering the state of Michigan. He also served as assistant section chief in the Counterterrorism Division, providing national-level oversight and guidance of all United States-based international terrorism investigations, among other positions.

David Levy leads AWS’s US Government, Nonprofit and Healthcare businesses. He and his teams help Governments, NGOs, Nonprofits and, Healthcare providers realize the potential of technology to transform their organizations and fulfill their missions. In this role, he works closely with national security clients, civilian and defense agencies, nonprofits and hospital systems on their journey to cloud technology.

David is an experienced executive and impactful leader in the information technology sector and for more than 20 years, he has passionately focused on the intersection of technology and organizational change. Prior to joining AWS, David worked for Apple Inc. for 12 years and led the teams that helped government adopt innovative mobile technologies. As head of the U.S. public sector, he played a key role in the introduction and adoption of mobile apps and app stores in federal and state and local governments. Before joining Apple, David worked for Monster.com and helped lead its customer facing teams which played a key role in bringing automation and innovation to federal hiring and recruiting platforms.

Moderator: Barbara L. McQuade is a professor from practice at the University of Michigan Law School. Her interests include criminal law, criminal procedure, national security, data privacy, and civil rights. From 2010 to 2017, Professor McQuade served as the U.S attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. Appointed by President Barack Obama, she was the first woman to serve in her position. Professor McQuade also served as vice chair of the Attorney General's Advisory Committee and co-chaired its Terrorism and National Security Subcommittee. As U.S. attorney, she oversaw cases involving public corruption, terrorism, corporate fraud, theft of trade secrets, civil rights, and health care fraud, among others. Professor McQuade also serves as a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Lawfare, Just Security, Slate, and National Public Radio, and she has been quoted in The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Politico, and other publications.

Before becoming U.S. attorney, Professor McQuade served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit for 12 years, serving as deputy chief of the National Security Unit, where she handled cases involving terrorism financing, export violations, threats, and foreign agents. Professor McQuade began her career as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman in Detroit, and then practiced law at the firm of Butzel Long in Detroit. Professor McQuade previously taught at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

Hosted by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and co-sponsored by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program.