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Analysis

  • Black Hat and Def Con 2021 – Observations and Trends

    The Black Hat and Def Con cybersecurity events are the most highly anticipated of the year.  Each event had an in-person component this year and OODA CEO Matt Devost provides his observations from each event.

  • The Privatization of Cyber Tools and Operations Further Muddies Attribution Efforts

    The recent exposure of NSO, the Israeli company that developed the Pegasus mobile phone spyware, has again brought to the forefront private companies that develop and sell their technology to “only” governments and licensed law enforcement entities for the purposes of spying and surveilling targets of interest.  While ostensibly Pegasus can be used against criminal…

  • Elon Musk and his Five-Step Engineering Process Based on First Principles

    If you have not discovered The Everyday Astronaut (a website and YouTube channel), it should be on your sensemaking radar.  Gone are the days of dependence on traditional media outlets to watch seminal space launches or returns at a fixed time in an exclusively nation-state based space race.  Everyday Astronaut is an example of the…

  • OODA Special Report: Megadrought 2021 and Scenario Planning – Step One (Scale and Scope)

    A critical component of scenario planning is strategic communication.  Interestingly, according to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS): “Drought communication is important not only for informing people about current drought conditions, but also for providing education and encouraging people to take adaptation action.”  While drought conditions are traditionally…

  • The False Pundits of Cyber Will Lead Us Astray If We Let Them

    They’re not cybersecurity experts, but they did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Because we have no common body of knowledge from which to explore and learn from prior art, you can predict like the seasons when another cohort of professionals from other disciplines will attempt to tell us what is good for…

  • At Black Hat 2021, CISA Director Jen Easterly launches CISA JCDC (Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative)

    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has launched a new agency effort, the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC), to develop cyber defense operations strategies and to implement those plans in collaboration with partners to mitigate risk prior to incidents happening and to coordinate unified defensive actions in the event of a cyber-attack.

  • What the C-Suite needs to know about a Return to “Great Power Competition” and DoD Capabilities (per the Congressional Research Service)

    This post provides insights into what the C-Suite needs to know about the rise of great power competition, based largely on a recently released report by the policy and legal research agency of the United States Congress, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), titled Renewed Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense—Issues for Congress. Great Power Competition:  U.S. DoD…

  • Stark Vulnerabilities and Strong Recommendations continue in 2021 update to “Federal Cybersecurity: America’s Data at Risk” Report (2019)

    In a follow-up to a 2019 report that found major cybersecurity vulnerabilities at eight government agencies, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has released a 2021 updated report. Entitled Federal Cybersecurity:  America’s Data Still at Risk,  the update does not mince words: “This report revisits those same eight agencies two years later. What this report finds is stark.”  

  • What To Know And Do About The Coming Metaverse

    In the early 1990’s SciFi fans were introduced to a concept called the Metaverse in Neal Stephenson’s book SnowCrash. In the book this described a future virtual reality beyond the universe that was populated by user-controlled avatars as well as AI and bots. Now decades later the age of the Metaverse is upon us. Most…

  • Will Cyber Breaches Start a Shooting War?

    In a late July 2020 speech at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI),  President Biden stated that “if we end up in a war, a real shooting war with a major power, it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach.” This definitive pronouncement comes at a time when the…


OODAcasts

  • Lessons In Leadership From Ellen McCarthy and Her Journey From Junior Analyst To The Most Senior Echelons of the Intelligence Community

    Lessons In Leadership From Ellen McCarthy and Her Journey From Junior Analyst To The Most Senior Echelons of the Intelligence Community

    Ellen McCarthy is a highly accomplished and distinguished executive whose career started as a junior analyst and ended up reaching to the very highest echelons of the US intelligence community. In this OODAcast we explore lessons learned from her journey, capturing insights that can inform actions for those at any stage of a career. 

  • Blake Bartlett, CEO of Janes, On Leadership and Decision Making In The Modern Age

    Blake Bartlett, CEO of Janes, On Leadership and Decision Making In The Modern Age

    Blake Bartlett is the CEO of Janes, the well known and trusted provider of open source defense intelligence. In this OODAcast we examine lessons learned from Blake’s career and path from a young student with a desire for a career in sports to success in the domain of sales. Blakes walks us through some key…

  • Michele Wucker on Identifying and Confronting the Obvious Risks of Gray Rhinos

    Michele Wucker is specialist in risk management and crisis anticipation and is author of the book “The Gray Rhino: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore”. While we’ve all become familiar with Taleb’s concept of Black Swans, we must equally become intimately aquatinted with Wucker’s Gray Rhinos as they provide more…

  • Vikram Sharma, CEO of Quintessence Labs on Leadership in the Quantum Era

    Vikram Sharma, CEO of Quintessence Labs on Leadership in the Quantum Era

    Vikram Sharma is the founder and CEO of Canberra Australia based QuintessenceLabs. His company provides solutions based on quantum technology to strengthen cryptographic key creation and management at scale. This is an urgent need in this era of increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, and key to protecting data now and into the future. In this OODAcast we…

  • Former CIA Officer Rob Richer on the Geopolitical Landscape, Leadership Lessons Learned, and Supporting Decision-makers

    Former CIA Officer Rob Richer on the Geopolitical Landscape, Leadership Lessons Learned, and Supporting Decision-makers

    Rob Richer is a highly regarded advisor to international executives and global government leaders including several heads of state. Rob has a well informed perspective on international risks and opportunities and an ability to analyze and distill observations in a way that is meaningful for your decision making process. In this OODAcast we cover the…

  • Camila Russo on Ethereum and the Future of Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
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    Camila Russo on Ethereum and the Future of Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

    This week’s OODAcast features an interview with Camila Russo, the author of the book “The Infinite Machine: How an Army of Crypto-hackers Is Building the Next Internet with Ethereum”. Camila is also the founder of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) site The Defiant, which tracks developments, emerging trends, and news in the fast moving DeFi space.…

  • Will Hurd on Skills For Success In The Modern Age
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    Will Hurd on Skills For Success In The Modern Age

    Former Congressman Will Hurd joins us on this episode of OODACast to discuss what he has learned about business and entrepreneurship from a diverse career in the intelligence community, elected office and the private sector. Will has successfully leveraged the skills of a CIA operations officer in a variety of contexts, including the founding of…

  • Kathy and Randy Pherson, Authors of Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence
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    Kathy and Randy Pherson, Authors of Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence

    Kathy and Randy Pherson are authors of the book Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence. Both had successful careers in the US Intelligence Community. While they were at the CIA they pioneered new methods of risk analysis and analytical methods, and helped bring those methods to widespread adoption in the community. Both are also successful business…

  • Ric Prado on Intelligence Operations and a Legendary Career in the CIA

    Ric Prado on Intelligence Operations and a Legendary Career in the CIA

    Ric Prado has been described by CIA leadership as the closest thing to 007 that the United States has ever had. Ric’s life is packed with more adventure and operations than your favorite spy novel series. Coming out of the shadows, this is Ric’s first video interview and covers his career, operational decision-making lessons learned,…

  • Mischel Kwon, Founder and CEO of W@tchTower

    Mischel Kwon, Founder and CEO of W@tchTower

    In this OODAcast we interview Michel Kwon, the founder and CEO of W@tchTower. She is a leader who has proven herself through an ability to success in three different career fields, first as a developer and programmer creating enterprise grade solutions, then as a government executive who would eventually lead the United States Computer Emergency Readiness…

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