Developing ways to confront the threats to our nation’s cybersecurity poses one of the most serious economic and national security challenges of the 21st century. In the digital age, our hard earned dollars, proprietary information and national secrets are all stored digital, yet those in government have been slow to recognize the threat posed to our digital infrastructure and data.
The Department of Defense assesses that there are 10,000 to 1 million cyber attacks a day on DOD infrastructure. More than half of 600 IT executives surveyed said their companies had already suffered a large-scale attack or stealthy infiltration from organized crime gangs, terrorists or nation-states.
Having been involved in a number of offensive and defensive Information Operations for the U.S. Intelligence, I can tell you that the threat posed by organized intelligence operations of our foreign adversaries is formidable.
Our elected leaders need to be able to understand the threat and be committed to securing the nation's information infrastructure. This requires collaboration between the public and private sectors, and cooperation between civilian and military agencies.
Due to a unique combination of pre-existing business, academic, governmental, military and public sector initiatives San Antonio is fortunately poised to become Cyber City, USA. San Antonio can lead the way in protecting our nation's digital infrastructure. This will grow jobs in San Antonio and the surrounding areas and help keep America safe. I encourage Congress to create a Cyber Caucus that will formalize Congress’ commitment to support to cyber security missions, research and development, education and workforce development.
-Will
Friday, January 29, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Scott Brown and the Voters of Texas' 23rd District
Over the next few weeks, it will be hard not to hear about the importance and impact of Scott Brown’s win. Those who connect the dots correctly will realize that last year’s Republican victories in New Jersey and Virginia, and Scott Brown’s election last night in Massachusetts, are the beginning of something larger, a wave that won’t stop anytime soon.
Last night’s results confirm what I have learned by spending countless hours on the doorsteps and in the kitchens of voters across the District: hardworking Americans have had enough of the runaway spending and explosive growth in government that has come to characterize this Congress and Administration. What the talking heads will want to talk about now is that the balance of power is shifting, that many democrats will be rethinking their position on issues. What they won’t talk about is that until a few days ago, many of them didn’t see this coming.
It isn’t a stretch to say that eight weeks ago, then-State Representative Scott Brown wasn’t very well known outside of his southwest Boston district. When he made the decision to seek the senate seat vacated by the late Ted Kennedy, the powers-that-be and pundits considered Brown to be an unlikely long-shot.
Conventional wisdom dictated that a good Republican who promised to run a respectful and clean campaign that focused on the issues would not be able to win a seat that had been held by a democrat for so long. Thankfully, Brown proved conventional wisdom wrong.
Brown surrounded himself with folks that believed in him and made a commitment to stay true to his principles, and set out to do the thing that folks said couldn’t be done. He is now the new junior Republican Senator from Massachussetts and everyone will be saying his name at the water coolers, over coffee or on facebook. Scott Brown is an example of how achieving anything is possible through hard-work and dedication.
I’ve been blessed to have had great role models in my life. My mother and father taught me many lessons, but above all they taught me that I could achieve any goal as long as I was honest with myself and others, and willing to work at it and never let up.
At the Agency, we were called upon time and time again to complete tasks that others had thought were impossible. Through it all, I learned from my colleagues how to think clearly in difficult situations and how to have steady nerves in the face of adversity.
Those on the left and in the White House will begin their spin today. They’ll blame Coakley’s campaign, and they’ll say that this is in no way a referendum on the President and his misguided policies. And they’ll be wrong – in Scott Brown, we all can see that a good guy, running a clean, respectful campaign focused on conservative principles can and will finish first. And that’s exciting.
-Will
Last night’s results confirm what I have learned by spending countless hours on the doorsteps and in the kitchens of voters across the District: hardworking Americans have had enough of the runaway spending and explosive growth in government that has come to characterize this Congress and Administration. What the talking heads will want to talk about now is that the balance of power is shifting, that many democrats will be rethinking their position on issues. What they won’t talk about is that until a few days ago, many of them didn’t see this coming.
It isn’t a stretch to say that eight weeks ago, then-State Representative Scott Brown wasn’t very well known outside of his southwest Boston district. When he made the decision to seek the senate seat vacated by the late Ted Kennedy, the powers-that-be and pundits considered Brown to be an unlikely long-shot.
Conventional wisdom dictated that a good Republican who promised to run a respectful and clean campaign that focused on the issues would not be able to win a seat that had been held by a democrat for so long. Thankfully, Brown proved conventional wisdom wrong.
Brown surrounded himself with folks that believed in him and made a commitment to stay true to his principles, and set out to do the thing that folks said couldn’t be done. He is now the new junior Republican Senator from Massachussetts and everyone will be saying his name at the water coolers, over coffee or on facebook. Scott Brown is an example of how achieving anything is possible through hard-work and dedication.
I’ve been blessed to have had great role models in my life. My mother and father taught me many lessons, but above all they taught me that I could achieve any goal as long as I was honest with myself and others, and willing to work at it and never let up.
At the Agency, we were called upon time and time again to complete tasks that others had thought were impossible. Through it all, I learned from my colleagues how to think clearly in difficult situations and how to have steady nerves in the face of adversity.
Those on the left and in the White House will begin their spin today. They’ll blame Coakley’s campaign, and they’ll say that this is in no way a referendum on the President and his misguided policies. And they’ll be wrong – in Scott Brown, we all can see that a good guy, running a clean, respectful campaign focused on conservative principles can and will finish first. And that’s exciting.
-Will
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