News Stories ArchiveJason Zander, executive vice president of Strategic Missions and Technologies at Microsoft, spoke to Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) students, faculty and staff about cyberspace, the fifth domain ... Read Mor

Tonthat, Tom

Calhoun, Institutional Archive of the Naval Postgraduate School

Calhoun: The NPS Institutional ArchiveDSpace RepositoryNews Center News Articles Collection2022-06-08Microsoft Executive Discusses Fifth DomainCompetition, Partnerships During NPS GuestLecture - Naval Postgraduate SchoolTonthat, TomNaval Postgraduate School, Monterey Californiahttp://hdl.handle.net/10945/70135This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, UnitedStates Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in theUnited States.Downloaded from NPS Archive: Calhoun7/12/22, 1:58 PMMicrosoft Executive Discusses Fifth Domain Competition, Partnerships During NPS Guest Lecture - Naval Postgraduate SchoolPage 1 of 4https://nps.edu/-/microsoft-executive-discusses-fifth-domain-competition-partnerships-during-nps-guest-lectureNaval Postgraduate School SearchMicrosoft Executive Discusses FifthDomain Competition, Partnerships DuringNPS Guest LectureMC2 Tom Tonthat  |  June 8, 2022Jason Zander, executive vice president at Microsoft, left, discusses cyberspace and the importance ofpublic-private partnerships with Naval Postgraduate School President retired Vice Adm. Ann Rondeauduring the latest Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture (SGL), June 6. (U.S. Navy photo by MC2 LennyWeston) Jason Zander, executive vice president of Strategic Missions and Technologies at Microsoft, spoke toNaval Postgraduate School (NPS) students, faculty and staff about cyberspace, the fifth domain inStrategic Competition, and the challenges in keeping up with this rapidly developing front during NPS’latest Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture (SGL), June 6.Held inside King Auditorium and broadcast live online, Zander discussed critical issues in cyberspace andthe role of public-private partnerships during an informal one-on-one discussion with NPS Presidentretired Vice Adm. Ann E. Rondeau. She opened the dialogue by asking about change, and how Zander andMicrosoft approached this challenge over the years. “As a company, Microsoft went through a lot of cultural transformation from how we compete to how weCURRENT HEADLINESNPS Researchers Leave a LastingLegacy in Climate Analysis andPrediction   |   July 6, 2022Naval War College at NPSGraduates 91st Class   |   June 22,2022Chief of Space OperationsCongratulates NPS Spring QuarterGraduates   |   June 17, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT 7/12/22, 1:58 PMMicrosoft Executive Discusses Fifth Domain Competition, Partnerships During NPS Guest Lecture - Naval Postgraduate SchoolPage 2 of 4https://nps.edu/-/microsoft-executive-discusses-fifth-domain-competition-partnerships-during-nps-guest-lecturebuild and ship software, and I think it’s actually relevant to cyberspace as well,” Zander said. “We’ve beensuccessful for the past couple of decades. Yet the whole world changed around us, from adoption of newertechnology, and a faster moving pace. “We had to make a lot of changes to not only survive but also thrive in that environment,” he continued.“We’re very excited about that and the opportunity everybody has. I think we’ll find a lot of similaritieswhen I talk to my peers across defense departments.”Zander and Rondeau then transitioned the discussion to a focus on national and global security, and howadversaries can use cyberwarfare, targeting commercial entities in their efforts to exploit vulnerabilities ina country’s infrastructure.“How do we find and remediate as quickly as possible to make sure people can’t get through our defensesusing ransomware and the like?” asked Zander. “I shudder to think what would happen if people wentafter critical infrastructure and shut down, say, the United States power grid.”Rondeau acknowledged similarities in the security concerns among private and public sectors, such asspeed and the urgency of change, among others that have come to the forefront in recent months due tothe conflict in Eastern Europe.“One thing that was super interesting to [Microsoft] was as the lead-up to the war in Ukraine kicked off,we started detecting massive cyber-attacks coming from Russian state actors,” said Zander. “The mostinteresting thing to us was seeing the correlation between those cyber-attacks and kinetic actions beingtaken in the actual war.”Witnessing this direct correlation between cyber attacks using commercial infrastructure, and concurrentmilitary operations, demonstrated the need for his company to work with the military to developmutually-beneficial solutions.“We never expected to be in a position as a commercial software company to see that. It just shows youhow intrinsically woven these things are,” Zander said. “Imagine securing our critical infrastructure likeborders, water, and all the other things you need as a sovereign country. There are folks out there that arethinking every single day how to go after that stuff, building their offensive capabilities. That’s somethingwe have to keep up with and we’ll have to partner together on that.”Under the recently announced Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) betweenMicrosoft and NPS, both organizations aim to share their knowledge and resources, developing ways tokeep up with the rapidly increasing pace of adoption of new technologies, and this supports the warfighterand national security. “With this CRADA, we’re looking at different ways of knowledge acquisition, knowledge use, andapplications of knowledge and research for problem solving,” said Rondeau. “It’s our first step to reallychanging up how we process knowledge and skills and apply them immediately to the problems that arein front of us and anybody that we serve.”Zander explained the value of collaborating with NPS’ operationally-experienced students and defense-focused faculty for insight. “We’re excited about the innovation,” he said. “From our perspective, we get a lot of raw tech that wethink makes sense, but we want to get the feedback. Does it make sense and what could we be doingdifferently with that?Office of UniversityCommunications1 University CircleMonterey, CA 93943(831) 656-1068my.nps.edu/office-of-university-communicationspao@nps.edu7/12/22, 1:58 PMMicrosoft Executive Discusses Fifth Domain Competition, Partnerships During NPS Guest Lecture - Naval Postgraduate SchoolPage 3 of 4https://nps.edu/-/microsoft-executive-discusses-fifth-domain-competition-partnerships-during-nps-guest-lecture“I think the commercial sector has been growing at warp speed in some of these areas,” he continued. “Insome places, you’re going to come up against that technology. But if there’s a good way for us to be able totake that technology, bind it to the mission, get feedback and make the platform better … We’re excitedabout that, and if it helps their mission, then that’s going to be a win-win.” Following their discussion, Zander and Rondeau fielded questions from NPS students in the audience.One student asked how Microsoft’s drive for change and ability to innovate with speed could be taught tothe DOD to keep pace with emerging technology such as cyberwarfare.“I think that awareness and understanding of these partnerships are a big thing,” Zander responded. “But how do we actually bring down the friction [between innovation and bureaucracy] in a responsibleway?,” he posed.  “I think the real question is, are we really exploring the art of the possible deep enoughand quick enough? When we do, we will figure out how to innovate responsibly, and how to do it in a fairand competitive way going forward.”For more information about the NPS Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture program, and to watch pastlectures, visit the NPS SGL website. MissionProvide defense-focused graduateeducation, including classified studiesand interdisciplinary research, toadvance the operationaleffectiveness, technologicalleadership and warfighting advantageof the Naval service.Sign InNaval Postgraduate School1 University Circle, Monterey, CA 93943Driving Directions | Campus MapThis is an official U.S. Navy Website | Please read our Privacy Policy Notice |  FOIA | Section 508 |  No FEAR Act |  Whistleblower Protection | Copyright andAccessibility | Contact Webmaster

Microsoft Executive Discusses Fifth Domain Competition, Partnerships During NPS Guest Lecture - Naval Postgraduate School

https://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/70135/Microsoft_Executive_Discusses_Fifth_Domain_Competition_Partnerships_During_NPS_Guest_Lecture-Naval_Postgraduate_School.pdf?sequence=1

Microsoft Executive Discusses Fifth Domain Competition, Partnerships During NPS Guest Lecture - Naval Postgraduate School

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Calhoun, Institutional Archive of the Naval Postgraduate School