NHSC 2024: Tackling Today's Most Pressing Security Challenges

The National Homeland Security Conference (NHSC) in Miami Beach last week brought together a diverse cadre of security professionals from federal agencies, state and local governments, nonprofits, universities, and the private sector. The event aimed to address pressing challenges across homeland security, law enforcement, and fire and emergency management, foster knowledge exchange among experts, share safety and security best practices, and assist organizations in making risk-based security investments.

Partner Forces Founder and CEO Jenny Stone , along with Andy Glaser , Stephen Tolbert , Marc Parker , and Olivia Lanham , joined attendees from across all industries and sectors to discuss emerging trends in homeland security and experience new technologies that support critical missions.

Across the many dynamic and engaging panel discussions, presentations, and sessions, four themes stood out:

The Power of Mis-, Dis-, and Malinformation (MDM)

False or misleading information that is spread intentionally remains a significant threat. Not only does it undermine trust and fuel polarization, but it impacts important decisions in response to crises and within our democratic processes. Artificial intelligence has further enabled the spread of MDM and significantly changed the information dissemination landscape during an event or disaster.

As informed leaders and individuals, we must curb MDM’s reach and impact by establishing credible information-sharing channels and promoting trusted sources. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published numerous resources on this topic, including a recently released guide that outlines their TRUST model for MDM responses.

The Rise of Nation-State Threat Actors

Protecting U.S. critical infrastructure remains a top priority for state and local governments. They are seeing foreign adversaries, specifically China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, engage in more targeted attacks to achieve political, economic, and military objectives. Each with their own strategies, these nation-state actors look to gather intelligence, generate revenue through ransomware operations, cause chaos, and more. Most notably, these adversaries seem to be lying dormant as they wait for other events to occur and then take advantage of their position. Public and private sector sector coordination will be critical to address current and emerging vulnerabilities and bolster cyber defenses.

The Misuse of Large Language Models (LLM)

Nation-state actors continue to leverage open-source resources to fuel their tactics. Earlier this year, Microsoft and OpenAI reported they have been tracing LLM use and discovered state-affiliated groups are using this technology for targeted cyber attacks. One session on the national impact of advanced persistent cyber attacks discussed how LLM helped Chinese threat actors create content for phishing campaigns, develop malicious code, and retrieve publicly available information.

Artificial intelligence also provides malicious actors with a mechanism for accessing and sharing formulas for chemical or biological weapons, such as improvised explosive devices. This alone increases the risk of a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear incident. A reality check is needed for collaboration between technology companies, researchers, and government organizations to develop strategies to rapidly and effectively detect and mitigate risk around AI misuse.

The Availability of Grant Opportunities

Rounding out our NHSC key takeaways on a positive note, through numerous one-on-one discussions and sessions, we discovered an increasing number of grant opportunities are available to help state and local governments address these and other threats. Representatives from across the country shared valuable lessons learned from projects that successfully leveraged grant funding to combat domestic violent extremism and develop innovative solutions using robotics and other emerging technologies.

This year's presenters continually expounded on the need and focus for grant funding to support the nation's most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. For example, Community Disaster Resiliency Zones (CDRZ) are starting to bring additional funding to these communities as they align to numerous federal grant programs.

Looking Ahead

NHSC is a unique opportunity to assemble state and local emergency managers, public health officials, and Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) program managers, along with their federal counterparts, and foster conversations around the prominent threats, challenges, and solutions.

This year's attendees left it all on the table as they shared unique insights based on real-world experiences and demonstrated their commitment to defining and achieving common goals. This level of collaboration and information sharing at NHSC hopefully serves as an example of how the public and private sectors can tackle current and emerging security challenges to achieve a more resilient future - together.

Thank you to the National Homeland Security Association for hosting and we will see you next year right here in Washington, DC!

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