U.S. Cybersecurity Leaders Outline Collaborative Efforts to Strengthen National Defense at Black Hat

The panel discussion at Black Hat featured key U.S. cybersecurity leaders—Nick Anderson (CISA), Brett Leatherman (FBI), and Katie Sutton (Department of War)—outlining collaborative efforts to strengthen national cyber defense and deterrence. The FBI highlighted Operation Riptide, a 60-day initiative that arrested over 200 cybercriminals, charged 50, and extradited six fugitives, including a Chinese hacker linked to the Hafnium attacks, while dismantling adversary infrastructure and disrupting ransomware groups like LockBit through seizures of bulletproof hosting and cryptocurrency. The Department of War emphasized integrating cyber capabilities into military operations, citing Operation Absolute Resolve and Epic Fury as examples, and launched Cyber Command 2.0 to overhaul talent management with domain mastery, specialization (e.g., cloud, OT), and mission agility. CISA detailed its focus on risk prioritization via Binding Operational Directive 2604, shifting from CVSS scores to attributes like internet accessibility and exploitability, and promoted initiatives like Gold Eagle for AI-enabled vulnerability reporting and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) mitigation. The panel stressed ruthless prioritization for critical infrastructure protection, industry partnerships, and interagency collaboration, including co-location of teams across FBI, CISA, and intelligence agencies. Specific threats addressed included PRC-linked campaigns (Volt Typhoon, Flax Typhoon) and ransomware operations leveraging anonymization tools like First VPN and MediaLand.