Mission-Oriented Research Addressing Escalating Threats

Chair: Charles Payne

Title: Mission-Oriented Research Addressing Escalating Threats

Presentation

Abstract:
Dr. Deborah Frincke current leads the Research Directorate of the
National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS), the only
"in-house" research organization in the U.S. Intelligence Community
(IC).  She also serves as the NSA Science Advisor and Innovation
Champion.  In her presentation, Dr. Frincke will discuss at a high level
selected aspects of NSA's research programs and describe how the
Research Directorate supports national-level intelligence missions.  She
will provide insights on key challenges for the nation relative to the
role of science in a classified environment; and ways that the Research
Directorate partners with other government entities, the IC, academia,
industry, and internationally.

Speaker:  Deborah Frincke, Director of Research, NSA/CSS

About the Speaker:

Dr. Deborah Frincke leads the Research Directorate (RD) of the National Security Agency/ Central Security Service (NSA/CSS)—the largest “in-house” research organization in the U.S Intelligence Community—which is tasked with creating critical breakthroughs in mathematics, science, and engineering that support and enable the NSA/CSS to perform its Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Information Assurance, and Cyber Defense missions. She is a member of the Agency’s Board of Directors and serves as the NSA Science Advisor and Innovation Champion. Under her guidance, RD operates collaborative as well as government-only facilities that are world-class in fields as diverse as mathematics, computer science, cybersecurity/trustworthy computing, engineering, physics, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and linguistics. RD engages with leading industries, universities, and national laboratories to both advance core competencies and to leverage work in overlapping disciplines.

Within NSA, Dr. Frincke led global education and training as the Associate Director for Education and Training (ADET). While ADET, Dr. Frincke led the National Cryptologic School (NCS) as NCS Commandant and managed a worldwide multiservice military and civilian,  corporate-level learning organization to deliver education, training and career development to members of the NSA/CSS workforce. She was dual-hatted as the NSA/CSS Training Director, governing the Cryptologic Training Council and providing executive steering of four joint service school and 20 satellite campuses across the global enterprises.

Prior to joining NSA/CSS Dr. Frincke’s career included work in academia, the Department of Energy National Laboratory system, and private industry. She served as the Chief Scientist for Cyber Security Research at Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNNL) from 2004-2011. Prior to PNNL, Dr. Frincke was a full professor at the University of Idaho and co-founder / co-director of the Center for Secure and Dependable Systems. She was one of the four original co-founders of the private company Tri-Geo Network Systems, where she served as a Lead Scientist/Chief Technical Officer (CTO), and the company’s original product line was based on her research.

Dr. Frincke earned her doctoral and master’s degrees in computer science from the University of California, Davis. She is a nationally-recognized expert and well-cited author who has published over 100 articles and technical reports. Dr. Frincke frequently speaks nationally and internationally on topics from leadership to cybersecurity to big data. She has been very active in professional organizations, including past management of columns such as the Basic Training Board for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Security and Privacy magazine. She also established the first classified community-wide peer reviewed journal on cybersecurity, in tandem with ODNI’s Special Cyber Operations Research and Engineering (SCORE). Additional past professional services includes leadership and participation on numerous scientific program committees and editorial boards, such as the Journal of Computer Security, and organizational boards, including the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program and the National Intelligence Science and Technology Committee. She is a senior Member of IEEE and an affiliate Full Professor with the Information School at the University of Washington.