About this Event
CyberSmart 2025: From A to Z
Artificial Intelligence, Zero Trust and Other Considerations
Federal agencies understand that cybersecurity has to be the foundation of their operations, from online to back office.
For instance, the telecommunications breach by Salt Typhoon, a Chinese government-backed hacking group, targeted both U.S. political leaders and national security information. First detected in early summer, in December the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said at a press conference there is no way to estimate how long it will take for the hackers’ access to be shut down.
One major challenge for agencies is how to meet these requirements while looking for ways to incorporate new technologies that can streamline their operations. The biggest example of this is the explosive advent of artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool that agencies are tasked to incorporate.
Join us at this in-person event as thought leaders from government and industry share their thoughts on emerging cyber threats, the processes and tools they find most useful to thwart attacks, and the progress they are making on meeting federal technology and security mandates.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the role of Zero Trust in a FedRAMP cloud service provider and how to use it to meet the federal mandate
- Review the FedRAMP cloud service levels to confirm your agency is using the right level of service for different classes of information
- Outline the different types of AI tools and services available to agencies, including which can best be used to strengthen current cybersecurity measures
- Delineate the elements that comprise a user’s “identity” within your agency’s systems, and the protective steps available to guard against human or AI-generated intruders
- Define the differences between government employees accessing systems internally and contractors entering from outside the systems, and the tools available to distinguish between them
Hosted by: Claudia Hosky, Publisher, FedInsider
Moderated by: (Moderator), Contributing Editor, FedInsider
Sponsored by: Carahsoft Technology Corp., Commvault, Fortinet, and The College of Professional Studies at George Washington University
Session One: The role of AI in cybersecurity
Both public and private sector cyber experts recognize that AI represents a new level of threat, such as fear of AI-generated deepfakes that could allow bad actors to circumvent mechanisms to confirm legitimate users’ identities. But AI also offers new opportunities to enhance security, by preventing attacks, automating threat responses, and detecting anomalies in user behavior.
Our panel of government and industry experts share their experiences in harnessing AI to confront the continually evolving threat landscape and how agencies can put AI squarely on the side of defending against bad actors.
Session Two: Zero Trust and FedRAMP High
One of the government’s biggest cyber initiatives is the requirement to incorporate Zero Trust (ZT) architecture as a baseline security measure. The General Services Administration’s Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) expects cloud providers to meet this requirement; as federal agencies modernize and adopt cloud solutions, they are mandated to use FedRAMP authorized Cloud Service Offerings (CSO) for any public cloud delivered service. The requirement applies to all three FedRAMP impact levels, from high-impact (cloud services that handle highly sensitive controlled unclassified information such as national security or public health information), to low-impact cloud services that handle non-sensitive, unclassified information.
Our panel of government and industry experts will discuss the role of ZT in meeting FedRAMP’s cloud security requirements.
Session Three: Identity is everything
Protecting a user’s identity – who the user is, what they are allowed to access, whether they can edit and copy data, etc. – lies at the heart of cybersecurity. It’s also like having millions of users with a copy of your door key; it only takes one user’s carelessness to unlock the door.
Zero trust, for example, is about never trusting, always verifying a user’s identity. One of the biggest fears about AI is the possibility of generating a false persona that appears real or creating an online deepfake of a real person that can wreak havoc with the systems it can enter. The National Institute of Standards and Technology recently released draft guidelines that include expanded identity proofing models, applicable to both government agencies and contractors.
Our panel of government and business experts will outline the central importance of identity management and verification, how to strengthen identity verification processes, and how to evaluate their success.
Complimentary Registration
Please register using the form below or call (202) 237-0300. Participants can earn up to 3 CPE credits in Business Management & Organization. To receive CPE credit you must arrive on time, fill out and submit your evaluation to registration as you leave. Certificates will be e-mailed to registrants. In accordance with the standards of the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 50 minutes equals 1 CPE.
Additional Information
Prerequisites and Advance Preparation: None required.
Program Level: Basic
Delivery Method: Group Live
Fee: There is no fee associated with this event, and no penalty for cancellation or no-show. For more information regarding concern and/or program cancellation policies please contact [email protected]
CPE certification for this event is being administered by The George Washington University College of Professional Studies, registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education of the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority in the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website .
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Carahsoft Conference & Collaboration Center, 11493 Sunset Hills Rd, Reston, United States
USD 0.00
