Podcast with Chuck Brooks, Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University and President of Brooks Consulting International
Navigating the Deep Tech Industrial Revolution
Overview
In this episode of The Quantum Spin by HKA, host Veronica Combs discusses the intersections of quantum technology and cybersecurity with Chuck Brooks, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and the president of Brooks Consulting International. Chuck discusses how the evolution of technology, particularly AI and quantum computing, has dramatically transformed cybersecurity. The conversation also touches on the role of CISOs, the integration of new technologies, and the importance of ongoing education and adaptation in the face of rapidly changing technologies.
Introduction to Quantum Spin Podcast
[00:00:00] Veronica: Hello, and welcome to The Quantum Spin by HKA. I'm Veronica Combs. I'm a writer and an editor here at the agency. I get to talk every day with really smart people working on really fascinating subjects, everything in the Quantum industry, from hardware to software. On our podcast, we focus in on quantum communication, and by that, I don't mean making networks safe from hacking or entangling photons over long distance, but talking about the technology.
[00:00:26] How do you explain these complicated concepts to people who don't have a background in science and engineering but want to understand all the same?
Guest Introduction: Chuck Brooks
[00:00:34] Today, I am talking with Chuck Brooks. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and the president of Brooks Consulting International. Thanks for joining us today, Chuck.
[00:00:44] Chuck: Thank you for having me on. Appreciate it.
Chuck Brooks' Career Journey
[00:00:46] Veronica: So, you studied foreign affairs and political science, but you have been working in cybersecurity for some time now. How did you get where you are today?
[00:00:53] Chuck: That's a good question. When I studied back then, we didn't have computers or mobile phones. Yes. So, cybersecurity wasn't around, but, when I did go to grad school at University of Chicago, I did study strategic studies in international relations, and that really got me interested in technology because I was looking at mostly military technologies.
[00:01:16] So, I came out to Washington, DC, and I ran into a former head of DIA and deputy director of the CIA at a party. He invited me to come work with him. And it was on Strategic Defense Initiative, so it was military space stuff and missiles, et cetera.
[00:01:30] And I got really involved in the whole technology world. It led me to working at Voice of America. Then 10 years on the Hill doing security and technology issues with late Senator Arlen Specter. And then my real start with cyber was at Department of Homeland Security, DHS.
[00:01:45] Veronica: Oh. So, you were one of the first people hired by DHS.
[00:01:46] Chuck: Yeah, I was one of the first people hired by DHS. It helped set up the plants and technology directorate, and cyber was part of the portfolio, although again, it was only back in 2004. It was early, and it wasn't anything like now, but it really intrigued me back then, and I've been deep in ever since.
Evolution of Cybersecurity
[00:02:05] Veronica: So, you've really seen the threat landscape grow and change. You were in on the ground floor with some of these technologies. How has it evolved?
[00:02:16] Chuck: After 9/11, of course, with Chemical Biological Nuclear Radiation, we were all focused on counter-terrorism. But the whole era of digital came very quickly, and it was built without security in mind and expanded to everything in commerce and government. And so since then, cyber has been the world. And now of course, AI and quantum are also joining that emerging technology that are basically changing the way we live and work.
[00:02:44] Veronica: Yes, yes. So, it's all changing. So, I used to cover cybersecurity for a couple of online publications, and it just seemed like an overwhelming job to be a CISO or to be in charge of any kind of cybersecurity. So, how do you help CISOs identify the most crucial tasks in the short term, even?
[00:03:01] Chuck: Yeah, that's a great question. CISO is a relatively new term. Mm-hmm. When you look at, because a security officer before that, CSO, but the CISO's really with information technology and it's evolved. Initially, it was pretty much an IT position, just fix this, fix that.
[00:03:20] And when cyber started happening, when people started getting their data stolen and their finances corrupted and everything else, that evolved into a different kind of role. It's been elevated. Now the elevated role also comes with a lot of issues because often in companies, it's not the CISO that has the budget, it's the CIO and so they have to basically say, I need the latest, greatest, and they have to keep up on all the new technology and the threats.
[00:03:59] Veronica: Yes, yes. So, how do you think about quantum in terms of cybersecurity?
[00:04:32] Chuck: It's really not necessarily the cybersecurity element, it's the ability to decrypt everything that's out there. And a lot of data has been taken and a lot of information has been taken, and you have to have the right encryption right now. It's a standard encryption that we've been using for RSA for many years.
[00:04:48] Quantum will be able to break that and they'll break every encryption. The fact is that quantum computing will give a superpower to whoever has it. And the threats then could be augmented. So if you're using AI, you could use it even to do greater threat by having it synthesize all the vulnerabilities in the network and endpoints,
