Nielson Testifies Before Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity
For decades, we’ve worked behind the scenes delivering cybersecurity services to protect our customers’ most sensitive information and valued critical infrastructure. Our work, which continues to shape the future of cybersecurity, is providing our people with opportunities to engage with some of the top minds and policymakers in the United States. Ronald Nielson, Parsons Chief Technology Officer, Cyber and Intelligence Division, testified on November 14, 2018, before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, as part of a panel of cyber experts, answering questions about government acquisition of new technologies from the private sector. In a view shared by many of the senators and subject matter experts present at the hearing, the strengthening of the cybersecurity posture at the Department of Defense (DoD) will bolster the cyber defenses of the nation. This is a critical mission in a world of evolving cyber challenges and one that must be supported by deeper working relationships between private sector solutions providers, like Parsons, and the federal government.
“There is now a viable government and commercial need for collaborative solutions so that both may benefit,” Ronald testified. “The DoD has many proud cultures for developing solutions to hard problems, but such an environment needs to be agile and evolvable so that innovative solutions can be employed.”
He explained, based on his more than 20 years of experience in cybersecurity, the federal government’s willingness to allow the incorporation and integration of commercial products into its networks is vital to private sector innovation and success, and has allowed the DoD to keep pace with adversaries. While adopting a culture of incorporating commercial capabilities into the DoD’s solutions set signals a dramatic shift from traditional methods, it will benefit cybersecurity firms, the federal government, and the country at large.
“Our nation’s cybersecurity prowess is best measured as an integration of people, processes and technologies,” Ronald testified. “Our ability to succeed in this critical mission area requires all three to function in unison across government and industry.”
Also testifying before the subcommittee were Francis Landolf, Principal of Core Consulting; Dmitri Alperovitch, Co-Founder and CTO of CrowdStrike; and Maj. Gen. John Davis (Ret.), Federal Chief Security Officer for Palo Alto Networks. The senators will consider their testimony as they revise cyber policies as part of next year’s National Defense Authorization Act.
Learn more about Parsons’ cybersecurity solutions by visiting https://www.parsons.com/solutions/cybersecurity/.
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