It's not that either side lacks it. But the difference in the overall message at Black Hat — a conference for hackers — and RSA — an event for defenders — illustrates the disconnect between the two halves of the cybersecurity community: both believe they're winning.

That's not to say the defenders don't see the enormity of the challenge they face.

Phyllis Schneck, deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity and communications for Homeland Security's National Protection and Programs Directorate, said one of the hardest problems is clearing "some of the ridiculous noise out of the Internet," separating the run-of-the-mill attacks from the advanced threats.

The first goal of the defender is "to make it less easy for the adversary so that we can start to hunt and find the really sophisticated stuff," she said. This was immediately followed with, "Game on."

Similarly, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced a new bug bounty program for the Pentagon, opening its networks to white hat hackers. While this is becoming an industry standard, for the Department of Defense — which, by its nature tends to take a more conservative position on these sorts of things — inviting this level of scrutiny feels like a bold move. (One I applaud them for making.)

During a panel espousing the effectiveness of automation — another worthy endeavor — National Security Agency Special Assistant to the Director for Cyber Philip Quade cited an agency facing a billion incidents each day. By automating significant parts of the detection and mitigation process, the agency was able to go from resolving a few dozen incidents a day to tens of thousands. That's a huge leap, for sure, but "tens of thousands" still doesn't come close to "a billion." Cassandras"The barbarians are at the gates," he said. Though what's worse, today, "There aren't any gates."

But everyone at the conference recognized the threat is real. And maybe some over-confidence — a little swagger — isn't such a bad thing, so long as you can face down the horde when it comes knocking.

About Aaron Boyd

Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.

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