Cyber defense leaders address growing security challenges as part of Vanderbilt’s inaugural Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats

U.S. Cyber Command Director Gen. Paul Nakasone shed new light on Russian cyberattacks against Ukraine and, for the first time, revealed U.S. efforts to prevent foreign meddling ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

Nakasone’s remarks came during the inaugural Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats, which was May 4–5 at the Student Life Center.

Topics of discussion during the two-day event included the importance of academic, military, government and private sector partnerships; the need to recruit, train and retain talent to lead research in vital areas; and the prevention of future epidemics and pandemics.

In addition to Nakasone, the conference hosted Kersti Kaljulaid, former president of Estonia, and a range of other military and intelligence leaders, scholars, prominent journalists and private sector experts in cybersecurity, energy and finance.

Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier on day two of the Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats (Harrison McClary/Vanderbilt University)

Chancellor Daniel Diermeier (right) participated in the panel discussion “Interdisciplinary Approaches to Modern Conflict” discussion with session chair Gillian Tett, chair of the editorial board and editor-at-large of the US “Financial Times” (on screen), and panelists Michael Bess, Chancellor’s Professor of History at Vanderbilt; Xenon Koutsoukos, professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science at Vanderbilt; and Joyce Corell, deputy national cyber director, Technology and Ecosystem Security, Office of the National Cyber Director, Executive Office of the President, during the Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats. (John Russell/Vanderbilt University)

Left to right: Jules White, Vanderbilt associate dean, School of Engineering, and associate professor of computer science; Kevin Mandia, CEO and director, Mandiant; Rob Joyce, director, NSA, Cybersecurity Directorate; Professor Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, University of Chicago; and session chair Niloofar Razi Howe, senior operating partner, Energy Impact Partners, discussed complexities of cyber attribution during the Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats. (John Russell/Vanderbilt University)

Provost C. Cybele Raver gave the first day’s afternoon keynote, “Preparing for the Inevitable Surprise,” during the Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats. (John Russell/Vanderbilt University)

Maj. Gen. William “Joe” Hartman, commander, Cyber National Mission Force, spoke about “Perspectives from the Cyber Front Line” during the Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats. (John Russell/Vanderbilt University)

Girls in Tech Nashville met with U.S. Cyber Command Director Gen. Paul Nakasone (shown here) and NSA Director, Cybersecurity Directorate, Rob Joyce during round table discussions at the Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats. (John Russell/Vanderbilt University)

Rob Joyce, director, National Security Agency (far right), and Kevin Mandia, CEO and director, Mandiant (center), talked with Girls in Tech Nashville during the Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats. (John Russell/Vanderbilt University)

Kersti Kaljulaid, former president of Estonia, in conversation with session chair Brett Benson, associate professor of political science and Asian studies, during the Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats (Harrison McClary/Vanderbilt University)

Left to right: Suzanne Smalley, reporter at “CyberScoop”; Dina Temple-Raston, senior correspondent, “The Record,” and host/executive producer, “Click Here” podcast; Rana Foroohar, global business analyst, CNN, and associate editor, “Financial Times”; and Vanessa Beasley, vice provost for academic affairs, Vanderbilt University, discussed complexities of coverage in modern conflict at the Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats. (Harrison McClary/Vanderbilt University)

U.S. Cyber Command Director Gen. Paul M. Nakasone gave the opening keynote address at the Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats. (John Russell/Vanderbilt University)

In his opening remarks, Chancellor Daniel Diermeier emphasized the broad and complex nature of modern security and threat response and how they require the kind of interdisciplinary collaboration that universities can provide.

“New types of conflicts require new ways of thinking,” Diermeier said. “It is now imperative that we, as a research institution, explore new perspectives on the emerging conflicts of tomorrow. Having the intellectual space to explore these possibilities and a culture of intense collaboration makes Vanderbilt an ideal setting to host this conference and to claim its leadership role in addressing new challenges across the global defense and security spectrum.”

Diermeier announced a university-wide initiative on the future of conflict, starting with a faculty steering committee that will advise university leadership on how to accelerate interdisciplinary research in multiple areas, including data science, AI, cybersecurity and the social sciences.

C. Cybele Raver, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, was one of the event’s keynote speakers. She addressed the role that universities can play in finding multi-disciplinary solutions to future worst-case scenarios.

“It’s only through our joint efforts that we can meet and combat not only the threats that we face today, but those inevitable surprises in generations to come,” Raver said. “The entire summit is carving a profoundly important path forward, not only in cybersecurity, but in ways of addressing complex, existentially threatening problems that we face today and are likely to face going forward.”

In his remarks, Nakasone stressed the need for agility in response to cyber threats and the importance of partnerships in accomplishing this.

“This is our nation’s advantage,” Nakasone said, “being able to move with speed in a domain that requires being able to be agile to threats and being able to do it with a unity of effort.”

Kaljulaid, who has emerged as an important voice in cyber defense since her tenure as president of Estonia (2016–21), emphasized the need to give groups in our society a voice to maintain robust democratic political systems.

“Our century will be spent in proving to our own people that democracies can work,” Kaljulaid said in conversation with Brett Benson, associate professor of political science and Asian studies. “We need to enlarge the sphere of influence of the freedoms and the free world, because people really want them. We don’t have to force them on people globally. People have this drive themselves.”

Other speakers at the two-day event:

• Rob Joyce, director, National Security Agency, Cybersecurity Directorate
• Gen. William J. Hartman, commander, Cyber National Mission Force
• Anne Neuberger, deputy assistant to the President and deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology
• James Crowe, director, Vanderbilt Vaccine Center
• Gillian Tett, chair of the editorial board and editor-at-large, US Financial Times
• Rana Foroohar, global business columnist, associate editor at the Financial Times
• Dina Temple-Raston, senior correspondent, The Record, and host/executive producer, Click Here podcast

Visit the summit website for a complete list of speakers and to watch the event’s keynotes and panels.