Keynote speaker Patrick Lardier gives a speech about cyber security in the testing and evaluation field during the International Test and Evaluation Antelope Valley Chapter’s quarterly luncheon at Edwards Air Force Base, Aug. 23, 2018.
Members of the International Test and Evaluation Association Antelope Valley Chapter held their quarterly luncheon at Club Muroc at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Aug. 23, 2018.
The luncheon was a way for testing and evaluation professionals in the community to exchange lessons learned and enhanced techniques to better accomplish the Edwards mission.
The ITEA aims to help professionals in the field to communicate with each other and share best practices across the board in a variety of technical backgrounds. The overall goal of the ITEA is to improve the test and evaluation community to further advance their industry.
“ITEA is an educational non-profit that has been advancing the exchange of technical, programmatic and acquisition information among the test and evaluation community for over 30 years,” said Chris Klug, ITEA AV Chapter president.
The keynote speaker was Patrick Lardieri, a technical fellow in cyber technology and operations, and a member of the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. Lardieri has worked with the National Cyber Range conducting cyber security evaluations. Lardieri’s address focused on the implementation of cyber security practices in the realm of testing and evaluation equipment. He said although it may seem like a daunting task, it is one of great importance. Failure to uphold cyber security may lead to the nation’s adversaries to access valuable data on Edwards test projects.
Keynote speaker Patrick Lardier, a technical fellow for cyber technology and operations (left), talks with Dr. David Smith, Edwards Air Force Base Installation Support director, during the International Test and Evaluation Antelope Valley Chapter’s quarterly luncheon at Edwards Air Force Base, Aug. 23, 2018.
Lardieri said he wanted to share with the audience, “what’s plausible for a modern adversary to do against a large information system using offensive cyber operations.”
Lardier believes the solution to potential cyber security threats is to have model-based and real-world testing of current cyber security systems. These would allow engineers to correct any security oversights that may have occurred during the development of data-sharing equipment and through daily operations.
“These problems are no different than any other engineering problems,” he said. “We never really well characterized (them) and we haven’t put enough people and resources into it.”
Lardier hopes that engineers such as himself and those in the cyber security field will energize the relationship between cyber security and testing and evaluation engineers to address potential threats.