Dr. Richard Forno
Teaching Professor, and Assistant Director, UMBC Cybersecurity Institute
CSEE Department
UMBC
12:00 noon–1pm
Friday, March 14, 2025
Remotely via WebEx: https://umbc.webex.com/meet/sherman
Abstract
In just its first month of operation that has disrupted large portions of the federal government, the activities of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have worried cybersecurity, national security, and information technology experts both inside and outside the federal government. Armed with root-level access and presidential authorization—yet often lacking relevant operational expertise or any meaningful oversight—DOGE’s staff, activities, and the security culture of the current administration in which they operate often seem to violate many time-tested best practices and principles for effective cybersecurity and technology management. They may also violate longstanding federal guidelines and regulations. As such, it is likely that DOGE is creating conditions that can cause operational, cybersecurity, or privacy incidents across the federal IT landscape and subsequently placing government information systems and sensitive citizen data at risk.
Based on the CIA (confidentiality-integrity-availability) triad, this talk will examine DOGE’s activities in the context of cybersecurity and technology best practices. Is DOGE truly an “insider threat” to the federal government as some claim? And if so, what countermeasures, if any, are available to address the threat?
About the Speaker
Dr. Richard Forno (rforno@umbc.edu) is a teaching professor in the UMBC Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, where he directs the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program, serves as the Assistant Director of UMBC’s Cybersecurity Institute, and is an Affiliate Scholar at the Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society (CIS). Prior to academia, his twenty-year career includes helping build a formal cybersecurity program for the US House of Representatives, serving as the first Chief Security Officer for Network Solutions (then, the global center of Internet DNS), and other assorted roles with the government, military/defense entities, and private sector. In 2023, he was named a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo in Pachuca, Mexico. Along with regular public analysis and commentary, his most recent book is Cybersecurity for Local Governments (Wiley, 2022), coauthored with UMBC Public Policy colleagues Professor Emeritus Don Norris and Ph.D. candidate Laura Mateczun.
Host:
Alan T. Sherman, sherman@umbc.edu
Support for this event was provided in part by the National Science Foundation under SFS grant DGE-1753681.
The UMBC Cyber Defense Lab meets biweekly Fridays 12-1pm. All meetings are open to the public.
Upcoming CDL meetings:
(Mar 17-21 spring break)
Mar 28, Christian Badolato, 2025 UMBC SFS Research Study
Apr 11, Keke Chen (UMBC), Adaptive Domain Inference Attack
(May 2 – CSEE Research Day)
May 9, TBA