CyberWire Daily - Lorna Mahlock: Build bridges. [Combat support] [Career Notes]

Episode Date: June 18, 2023

Major General Lorna Mahlock, Deputy Director for Combat Support from the National Security Agency (NSA) sits down with Dave to discuss her long and impressive career leading up to he working for one of the most prestigious security agencies. Originally born in Kingston, Jamaica, Lorna immigrated to Brooklyn, New York and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as a field radio operator. She shares how eye opening the military was for her, moving through ranks, and eventually landing into working at the Pentagon for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff. She moved around widening her array of paths, landing in her current role. Lorna shares some wisdom, mentioning how she likes to talk about ladders and how useful creating ladders in life can be, she says "I think about ladders in terms of horizontal component, in that you can create bridges, right? And, um, ways over obstacles, uh, for, for not only, uh, for yourself, but for others and an entire organization." We thank Lorna for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to the Cyber Wire Network, powered by N2K. and VPNs, yet breaches continue to rise by an 18% year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks and a $75 million record payout in 2024. These traditional security tools expand your attack surface with public-facing IPs that are exploited by bad actors more easily than ever with AI tools. It's time to rethink your security. Thank you. Learn more at zscaler.com slash security. Hello, my name is Major General Lorna Malak. I am the Deputy Director for Combat Support for the Cybersecurity Directorate at the National Security Agency. So I was born and raised in the Caribbean. And I recall when I was a kid, I wanted to be a nurse. So I grew up in a third world country and went to a high school, all-girl high school with Franciscan nuns. And there was just a, you know,

give back and caretaking that those nuns did that just made me think I wanted to be a nurse when I grew up. My mom came to the United States and then brought all of us as children with her. So we came here as teenagers. And we had two options. She said, hey, look, you either go to college or get a job, right? So I had graduated high school pretty early at age 16 and those were my options. I thought I'd outsmarted my mom when I, you know, chose high adventure in the Marine Corps as a field radio operator. So I think that was when I, you know, chose high adventure in the Marine Corps as a field radio operator.

So I think that was when I started this technology journey. So joining the Marine Corps as a field radio operator in the old days where we had, you know, field phones and slash wires and we would, you know, call up somebody at three miles at the end of that wire. You, this is me over, you know, old school technology. But that's how I got my start. As I think about my career, it really is about an ordinary person and able to do something extraordinary because I was a part of a team, right? I was born into a team, which included my family. My mom was a really, really strong proponent of education. And then I, you know, I found this organization, which is the United States Marine Corps, which is a part of it,

an incredible organization. So I started out as a field radio operator. I wasn't a citizen. And so because of that, I had to get a different occupational specialty. And then I moved into working at the Pentagon for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a young enlisted person. Back then, we had really, really good leadership and somebody said, hey, look, we think you can do something different. And they enabled me to start going to school at the University of Maryland, taking night classes and then moved on from there. So I joined the Marine Corps, commissioned as an officer, and then became an air traffic controller. And the air traffic control field is just simply phenomenal. A lot of technical folks. I got an FAA certification as an air traffic tower controller.

certification as an air traffic tower controller. And then, you know, just moved into the tech leadership space over a career where you have air defense, air command and control, aviation C2, which is command and control, which is really what I did over a career. And then had the really great opportunity to work in the Commandant's Office of Legislative Affairs in the Pentagon, in the Marine Corps' ops field, doing, you know, deploying, responsible for operations and deploying Marines globally. And then was selected to be a general officer and worked as the Marine Corps Chief Information Officer and Director of Command Control Communications and Computers. During that time, I also had a stint where I was able to get a degree in higher education and really focused on instructional technologies at the time.

At the agency, I get to work with folks that their remit is every day is making sure that we protect our nation's national security systems from the adversary, whether they be nation state or malicious cyber actors, but also working with folks to be able to impose, you know, really, really smart people to think about how we equip our national leadership to be able to use the SIGINT apertures that we have to be able to provide a national advantage to protect our nation's citizenry. So really every day, that is really what we're about. Really making sure that we protect our democracy and our people. It really, really is important to be able to see yourselves and understand how other people see yourself, see you. I tell people that every day I'm asking for their help to enable me to get better, right? I'm probably the most imperfect person you're going to find, but every day I show up.

And with a team, it really is about working to get better, right? It's about, you know, given the opportunity that I have, how do I enable others to realize their full potential, right? So right now, it's not about me. It's really about how do I create opportunities? And one of the things that I like to talk about is ladders, right? How do you create ladders both? And people think about ladders. People think about ladders as a, you know, a vertical component. I think about ladders in terms of horizontal component in that you can create bridges, right? And ways over obstacles for not only for yourself, but for others and an entire organization.

I think we all have an opportunity, right? I think every one of us, including myself, can be ordinary and still do the extraordinary when you're a part of a team, right? In the cybersecurity space, one of the things that I think is so important is that we inculcate this new generation of folks that are coming behind us to understand the opportunities, but the work that must be done with the technologies. We've got to pop the hood open and understand not how we not just be consumers of the technologies, but how we educate our young men and women to persist in this environment, because there's a ton of opportunity to be able to do good, but there are also others. And so we want to be on the side of the folks that understand the technology enough to be ready when the nation

is least ready. And that's the charge to our young folks, to be able to not just be consumers, but also be intellectually curious and to be able to help us to preserve and protect this great democracy, because there's very few like it. Thank you. and staying ahead is more than just a challenge. It's a necessity. That's why we're thrilled to partner with ThreatLocker, a cybersecurity solution trusted by businesses worldwide. ThreatLocker is a full suite of solutions designed to give you total control, stopping unauthorized applications, securing sensitive data,

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