Northrop Grumman's Edward Swallow Discusses Cybersecurity Implications for Critical Infrastructures

November 18, 2009 (FinancialWire) -- Northrop Grumman Corp.'s (NYSE: NOC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Edward Swallow, vice president of business development and civil cyber lead for the Information Systems sector's Civil Systems division, will make a presentation on cyber trends and technology advancements during "Protecting Our Critical Infrastructures," a webinar produced by Aviation Week.

The webinar will be hosted Wednesday, November 18 from 2: 00 - 3: 15 p.m. EST.

In his presentation, Swallow will describe the crippling effects of a coordinated physical and cyber attack on critical infrastructure, and point out that the "United States remains the prime target" for foreign economic collection and industrial espionage by virtue of its global technological leadership and innovation.

"Advanced tools that are harder to detect and counter are spreading rapidly and being used by less skilled attackers and criminals against private-sector targets," said Swallow. "Cyber attack transcends borders, legal jurisdictions and industrial sectors - the 'front' is everywhere."

Swallow will cite examples that illustrate an increase in political and military conflicts that are taking place on the Internet, whose ubiquitous and unpredictable characteristics mean that the battles fought there can be just as important, if not more so, than events taking place on the ground. Additionally, he will point to the lack of interoperable standards among defense, civilian, state agencies and industry, limiting the capability of a coordinated response to attacks and threats to national security.

"America's defense industry stands ready to provide the technology to help solve this problem; but technology alone will not be sufficient," said Swallow. Calling for a focus on fundamental legal and international frameworks, he added, "Until legal barriers are reformed and updated, we will remain without the information sharing mechanisms needed to manage and respond to cyber attacks. Such interoperability between defense and civil organizations and between state and federal offices is critical."

Swallow was recently named to lead the execution of Northrop Grumman's civil cyber strategy, supporting the company's full spectrum of cyber capabilities. In this role, he oversees a cross-sector collaboration effort designed to capitalize on the synergies of sector situational awareness, communication and mutual support. The company is leveraging its extensive experience with the U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence community to enhance the security of the U.S. Critical infrastructure and the "Dot.Gov" world of civilian agencies such as Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security and Energy.

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