Cybersecurity policies meant to protect sensitive information are often misunderstood, avoided, or circumvented by employees. Employees don’t like to be inconvenienced by the extra steps necessary for protection that to them seem unnecessary. This can be compounded by a complex cybersecurity environment with multiple competing standards that seem similar but have unique approaches, naming conventions, and acronyms.

This session will discuss how to solve these challenges by creating cooperative compliance. Cooperative compliance starts by understanding the entire risk environment based on the NIST SP 800-171 Framework, a foundational minimum for confidentiality and integrity. Using the NIST framework and straightforward messaging for employees, cooperative compliance communicates the reasons for cybersecurity inconveniences and protection.

Key takeaways: •Define cooperative compliance •Define and describe the cybersecurity foundational minimum •Describe communication strategies •Provide practical approaches based on the foundational minimum •Comment on useful tools, techniques, and approaches

About the speaker: NTT DATA Federal Services, Chief Technology Officer, Nat Bongiovanni is a US Navy veteran with over 35 years’ experience. Mr. Bongiovanni’s broad IT background allows him to view IT challenges through multiple lenses-- analyst, architect, manager, software developer and cybersecurity expert.

Nat has spoken extensively on cybersecurity, software and policy development. He recently spearheaded a team of cyber experts to develop a cybersecurity solution to protect network assets and data from internal vulnerabilities.

Nat’s experience comes from practical application and valuable lessons learned across a diverse set of clients including, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Defense Intelligence Agency, the Department of the Interior CIO, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car.