00;00;00;00 - 00;00;24;04 Unknown Technically speaking. Welcome to our technically UN technical Technology talk. A NIWC Atlantic production and an award winning podcast with your hosts, Chelsie Holloway and Alex Jackson. Time is going by quick, Alex. We just transitioned into fall. I'm still waiting for the weather to cool down a bit. You know, get my sweater weather. I know it'll get there. 00;00;24;07 - 00;00;41;29 Unknown But anyway, how was your weekend? Alex? What have you been up to? I'm looking forward to the cooler weather as well, but this past weekend I went to Columbia, South Carolina and took pictures at a 5K. It was to raise money for the Spinal Cord Injury Association, and it was just great to be out and get away from Charleston for a little bit. 00;00;42;00 - 00;01;02;08 Unknown Awesome. How was the race? Who who all ran in it? So we had a mix of folks walking and wheelchair rollers and it was our inaugural event, so it was great to kick off this event and highlight those with disabilities and just showcase what's possible when living with a disability. Very, very cool. Did you get some good, pictures? 00;01;02;09 - 00;01;17;17 Unknown I did, it was nice weather and, we were worried about the storm and the aftermath of the storm, but luckily, everything turned out really well. Yeah, yeah, the aftermath of that storm was why my family and I actually just went to the beach a little bit and, tried to look for shark's teeth while we were walking on the beach. 00;01;17;18 - 00;01;45;15 Unknown That was the highlight of my weekend. A little a little less fun than yours, but it was still cool, it was still cool. Let's get into the episode. We are talking about NIWC Atlantic’s role in the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure such as power grids, HVAC systems, and more. The stuff that we rely on every single day. Coming up, we've got the Navy's subject matter expert on mission critical control systems here to explain the importance of a capability called mosaics. 00;01;45;20 - 00;02;11;23 Unknown Then we speak to Yeoman First Class Nada Castro Negron for our military moment, and she explains how her work with our commanding officer, impacts the warfighter mission. So get comfy, turn up that volume, and let's get started. Alex. When I think of cybersecurity, I tend to focus on the security of computers, networks and information. All that stuff that I see living in this cyber realm. 00;02;11;23 - 00;02;35;14 Unknown Right. And what I forget about are the physical structures within our buildings or that are supporting our buildings, like water and power plants that need cybersecurity protection as well? Exactly. Technology is involved in everything, including the programs that automate and run so many infrastructure systems. And the last thing we want to do is leave those vulnerable to nefarious hackers. 00;02;35;14 - 00;03;01;11 Unknown And NIWC Atlantic has a pretty big role in this type of cybersecurity. We sat down with Doctor Alexandra Scalco, a NIWC Atlantic engineer and the Navy's subject matter expert on mission critical control systems, and she explained how mosaics is keeping us safe from cyber attacks. Let's take a listen. Doctor Scalco, can you please tell us what does mosaics stand for? 00;03;01;16 - 00;03;30;00 Unknown Sure. The acronym Mosaic stands for More Situational Awareness for industrial control Systems. And what are what are we picturing when you say that industrial control systems when it relates to NIWC Atlantic? Oh, two questions there. When what we're picturing, when we're picturing mosaics is our systems that we find in water, wastewater, power, utility manufacturing. It's essentially control systems or process control systems. 00;03;30;00 - 00;03;53;22 Unknown It's the things that control our physics based world. What we think about it when we think about NIWC Atlantic is NIWC Atlantic is not only the initiator of mosaics. It started with a navy. A NICE proposal here at NIWC Atlantic and NIWC Atlantic has been the technical management leading the effort during the past six or more years. 00;03;53;25 - 00;04;23;01 Unknown So what does this capability do? What it does is it helps us cyber defend our critical infrastructure. It's the initial cyber defensive capability for critical infrastructure at the lowest levels of the system. So that would be your programable logical controllers, your remote terminal units, really those things that start to have visibility to your valves, sensors, actuators, the things that control our physical world. 00;04;23;04 - 00;04;49;22 Unknown And why is that important to cyber to turn these systems? Well. So one of the things to start with is that critical infrastructure is really it's those systems and assets that are so vital that any kind of disruption or incapacity of the systems and assets would potentially affect security or public health and safety or any type of combination of that. 00;04;49;22 - 00;05;21;15 Unknown So it's physical safety. It's the ability to have the functions, you know, when you want water, you want water when you want power, you want power. So that becomes an incredibly important to us to be able to ensure that there's no interruption, for the Department of Defense or for the Department of Navy, who, you know, the component that we represent becomes really important because all the systems that we build, all of our information technology, all of the applications, the underlying support is critical infrastructure. 00;05;21;18 - 00;05;47;18 Unknown A data center runs on power. Yeah. If you don't have power, you might have a backup generation, but there's only so long that that backup generation will function. So we want to ensure that we are resilient and we're able to meet all of our, mission objectives when and when we want to you to use it. How does mosaics benefit the warfighter in completing their mission and the work that they do on a day to day basis? 00;05;47;20 - 00;06;21;23 Unknown Yeah, well, that's very much is the the more situational awareness for industrial control systems or mosaics that we're talking about, really enables us to ensure that there is stability and reliability of all of our systems. Typically, people in the in the past have always thought of, you know, power as being isolated from cyber or water and wastewater. But we saw with, Stuxnet, which was a very directed malware where cyber was weaponized against of physics based systems. 00;06;21;29 - 00;06;48;05 Unknown In that case, it was a, nuclear power reactor. So we know that cyber can be used to disrupt the infrastructure that we depend upon. So it supports the warfighter because it ensures that when the warfighter wants to, project force, that all of our systems are there and ready to operate and are not interrupted by any, threat actors. 00;06;48;07 - 00;07;13;20 Unknown And what are some of the goals that you all have for mosaics for, the near future? Well, that's a great question. Really excited about that one. We have just completed. We separated mosaics into two acquisition blocks to enable our all of our partners to crawl, walk, run. The first block is the ability to identify and detect. We call that block one. 00;07;13;20 - 00;07;41;20 Unknown We just completed the specifications. Those specifications will shortly be publicly releasable unclassified, because we want our partners that are commercial industry to have access to those specifications and criteria as well. Our future, our next direction is what we're calling block two. That really gets into bidirectional information sharing and the ability to get to that really shared situational awareness. 00;07;41;20 - 00;08;06;06 Unknown That's really critical, where we know when when an event occurs with one of our component, partners that we're able to very quickly, share that information and defend ourselves. It's really interesting to see the, the projection of where you all are wanting to take mosaics and how it will continue to help the warfighter and those in the Department of Defense. 00;08;06;08 - 00;08;53;13 Unknown Oh, thanks for saying that. We're really excited, not only for how it helps the Department of Defense for our mission, but also when we look at critical infrastructure, it's it's also our national economic security and public safety. So what we have accomplished with mosaics and those standards is we're going to share it. When I say industry partners, not just are our integrators and vendors that we rely on that work with us, but also our commercial partners that are non DoD, we want our hospitals to have continuous power, have continuous water and not be, so susceptible and vulnerable to a malware attack or, or anything that can disrupt their operations. 00;08;53;13 - 00;09;17;22 Unknown So what we've done in the DoD or from here at NIWC Atlantic, take what we initiated, was that ability to really raise the bar and defend ourselves. This is so exciting. So here at NIWC Atlantic, you have created this capability that is going to be useful to a wide range of businesses, people, operations. And we did that here at NIWC Atlantic. 00;09;17;22 - 00;09;39;22 Unknown I'm I'm so proud of us. This is great work that you're doing. Tell me about a recent accomplishment. You guys have had. Well sure. Before I get to the recent accomplishment, I do have to say that what is amazing about it is that it's a unity of effort. So it's not just NIWC Atlantic. We were the technical management, but we worked with all of the Department of Energy national labs. 00;09;39;25 - 00;10;10;13 Unknown So our partners included Idaho National Labs, Pacific Northwest National labs, Sandia National Labs, John Hopkins, APL. We are very much working with all of the services. So the team that has delivered this reference framework that we call mosaics with systems engineering requirements that can be traceable for for test and development, really was a unit, a national level unity of effort without any question. 00;10;10;13 - 00;10;39;10 Unknown We were the technical management on it. Some of the accomplishments is in 2022 mosaics and the team that extended team, that unity of effort was the winner of the prestigious 2022 Research and Development 100 award and mosaics was given an award for bringing the future of industrial cybersecurity into focus. That's a huge, huge accomplishment. And we also did that we we worked through Covid. 00;10;39;16 - 00;11;10;22 Unknown Yes. So here we were across the country to, you know, separated teams. And we we managed to do integration in labs, test it, and still were successful in delivering this outcome. And you have a big accomplishment you want to talk about, right. Yeah. So the block one specification actions are completed. It's currently in DoD review process. So currently it's distribution D which is for government and contractors. 00;11;10;24 - 00;11;43;04 Unknown However it is going to be publicly releasable unclassified. So anyone can use it and hot off the press the mosaic specifications are going to be included in the whole building design guide or the WBDG. And this is where all of the services publish specifications and criteria. And you can think of it as building codes for the Department of Defense, where if you were remodeling your home, you might go to a local municipality to look up what the criteria and specifications are for your renovation. 00;11;43;12 - 00;12;18;14 Unknown Well, the whole building design guide is where the Department of Defense and State Department for oversees, where we go to to find similar information. So mosaics is that specification is making it into that whole building design guide which means everyone will use it. That's huge. So your team, this collaborative national team, has created a capability that is so good that the Department of Defense said, hey, this is going in every building and this is across the whole Department of Defense, not just the Navy, not just NIWC Atlantic. 00;12;18;14 - 00;12;39;16 Unknown You guys have gone on the huge scale, and I think that's wonderful. So this is a great accomplishment to talk about. Definitely to put out there because I know there has been some worry, I think, over the past few years, more than there ever was, about the security of our infrastructures nowadays here within this country. So it's exciting to see NIWC Atlantic... 00;12;39;23 - 00;13;07;20 Unknown They've already been working that issue, we've already mastered it and we're doing it so well now the DoD is like, hey, let's put this everywhere. So well, to elaborate on what you just said, when you say the DoD Office of Undersecretary of Defense Acquisition and Sustainment, the director for Cyber Warfare, has stated to all of the service components that when addressing cybersecurity for critical infrastructure, that they will use the mosaics framework. 00;13;07;22 - 00;13;31;08 Unknown But it gets better. The OUSDANS is having a workshop at US INDOPACOM because we have we call it an eight star letter. We have to sponsors US INDOPACOM and US NORTHCOM. At US INDOPACOM, we're having a workshop on critical infrastructure, and it's going to be for all of the nation partner states from the Asia Pacific region. 00;13;31;11 - 00;13;55;14 Unknown So they think it's about 15 countries that are represented that workshop. And they'll be hearing and learning about mosaics and how they can apply mosaics as partner countries so that we can have the shared situational awareness and defend our critical infrastructure so we can all be resilient together. So it's not only the Department of Defense, it will also be for our commercial partners as well as non-U.S. partners. 00;13;55;14 - 00;14;09;21 Unknown Wow. So you didn't stop at National. You're taking this global. Yeah. That's exciting. I think this is great work that you all are doing. And it's neat to see that NIWC Atlantic has, such a big role in all of this. So congratulations to you and your team. 00;14;09;21 - 00;14;25;26 Unknown And there's just a tremendous amount of technical leadership support here at this command that has enabled us to work across other commands, because clearly we're working with Air Force. Army, we're working with other Navy commands. 00;14;26;03 - 00;14;50;08 Unknown And it has really taken that technical leadership from NIWC Atlantic to enable us to be successful. And it's made and it's making a huge impact that will be a legacy for for many years. Thank you so much for coming on and speaking with us about this capability and explaining it and and really iterating how widespread and important this is. 00;14;50;08 - 00;15;16;09 Unknown So it's great work we're doing and I'm so glad we can talk about it. Oh, thank you for having me. Really appreciate it. Really enjoy your podcast. So this was really exciting to get to be part one of the podcast. Thank you for having me, Alex. I was surprised when she told us mosaics will be adopted by the entire Department of Defense, and there are plans to pitch it to go even further to some of our allied nations. 00;15;16;11 - 00;15;37;08 Unknown I was also impressed to hear where mosaics started and how much it's grown. Next we have our military moment with YN1 Castro Negron, who shares her journey of why she joined the Navy. Thank you for joining us on the podcast today. Can you please tell us what you do for NIWC Atlantic? Hi. Glad to be here. 00;15;37;10 - 00;15;38;28 Unknown Be part of this podcast. 00;15;38;28 - 00;15;48;18 Unknown My job in the Navy is a yeoman. YN, I perform administrative duties, like, I route military correspondence 00;15;48;18 - 00;16;02;01 Unknown instructions- I also command personnel, administrators. We deal with the many type issues. Security in a lot. Everything related to a service or active duty military. So we provide support to, 00;16;02;01 - 00;16;05;02 Unknown 143, military personnel. 00;16;05;02 - 00;16;07;10 Unknown Active duty in reservist as well. 00;16;07;10 - 00;16;22;20 Unknown I'm now supporting the front office. So I've been, like, learning a lot from the front office management, by helping the CO scheduling appointments, helping with their events, and, coordinating with PAO. Any important events, I will say, 00;16;22;20 - 00;16;32;27 Unknown at the same time, if we have, like, anything, like military correspondent that it's like, hot items or anything that it's like last minute as well. 00;16;32;27 - 00;16;49;14 Unknown I will talk to the commanding officer in order to write in as soon as possible for the readiness of the fleet as well. That's a lot of work you do. It sounds like you have a full plate. Can you tell me why that's so important? It is important because I'm able to support this commanding officer with time management. 00;16;49;16 - 00;16;56;01 Unknown So the CEO will be able to focus on the other priorities for these come in and the fleet readiness. 00;16;56;01 - 00;17;11;01 Unknown And how long have you been in the Navy? Oh, I'm going to be five years on December the 2nd. I will be five years in the Navy. That's excellent. And, what kind of advice would you give to someone who is wanting to join the military? 00;17;11;01 - 00;17;30;11 Unknown Well, I would say I joined the Navy when I was 35, so I was ols, and. That doesn't mean that you can’t accomplished things in your life, I did it, I started as a seaman as an E3. And then I would say I went through a lot of the same process [as new kids like] 00;17;30;11 - 00;17;36;02 Unknown 18 years old, 19 years old. And I went through boot camp and yes, was hard, was difficult. 00;17;36;02 - 00;17;44;09 Unknown But I went through it. And then I am glad that my first command was, destroyer, DDG 62 USS Fitzgerald 00;17;44;09 - 00;18;02;14 Unknown and I got to learn about to be resilient, to be, hard worker, to be, good sailor. And, I was able to accomplish, I went after E3, I make, e4, then E5, and then recently 00;18;02;14 - 00;18;15;11 Unknown e6, and yes, it's been, I've been successful the last four years, but it's just the mindset that whatever you put in your mind that you have to be strong, to be resilient, to be. 00;18;15;18 - 00;18;24;27 Unknown That doesn't matter. All the obstacles or anything that you find, you might find in your life. Like you have to be strong and then you will get to to accomplish your goal. 00;18;24;27 - 00;18;36;00 Unknown And then I will say that other, advice that I will say, I, I set up like short term goals in order to accomplish the long term goals. 00;18;36;07 - 00;18;53;12 Unknown So I sense an accent here. Can you tell us where you're from and why you joined the Navy? So I'm from Puerto Rico. I was born in Puerto Rico and I joined the Navy in 2019. I joined the Navy because we went through a big, hurricane, hurricane Maria 00;18;53;12 - 00;19;06;01 Unknown destroyed our my entire island. And then, it was very hard to, to restart, you know, we weren't we were without electricity, without internet, without, 00;19;06;01 - 00;19;10;28 Unknown you know, the basics, basics that you need, you know, to for every day. 00;19;10;28 - 00;19;30;29 Unknown And, and then, I was working in Fort Buchanan. I was, I was a cook. I used to work in an a golf course. And then I met a lot of reservists, a lot of people from the from the US Navy and and other branches. And they were, like, motivating me to join the Navy. And I told them then I was old, I was 35 00;19;30;29 - 00;19;36;15 Unknown that and they say they have waivers and and then I just need, you know, to pass the ASVAB and 00;19;36;15 - 00;19;40;12 Unknown as well to be a physically, fit for duty in. 00;19;40;14 - 00;20;01;14 Unknown I would say that I did it and I, here I am in South Carolina, my second tour. I'm sorry for what you went through, but I'm also really glad that you found the Navy, because we're better off to have you. So I'm glad that your age didn't deter you. And now you're here with us, and NIWC Atlantic is definitely the better for having you on the team, so thank you. 00;20;01;18 - 00;20;20;15 Unknown Oh, thank you. Thanks for those words. I really appreciate that. And thank you for taking the time to join us on the podcast and all you do for NIWC Atlantic. Thank you sir. Thank you ma'am. Alex, when she started telling us about how her home was destroyed by the hurricane and that eventually led to her joining the Navy. 00;20;20;15 - 00;20;32;06 Unknown But man, my heart went out to her. It made me think back because I lost my home back in 2018 to Hurricane Michael, and that also eventually led me to joining NIWC Atlantic. 00;20;32;06 - 00;20;39;20 Unknown when we lost our home, my husband was military, so we were able to sell it and move on. It was a lot easier than what many other people have to go through. 00;20;39;20 - 00;20;50;04 Unknown But hey, it led me to NIWC Atlantic. Wow, that's crazy how a storm led both of you to NIWC Atlantic. And we are thinking about all of those affected by the recent storms. 00;20;50;14 - 00;21;14;10 Unknown And now we are coming to a close of this episode. And please remember to learn about anything we've mentioned in this podcast. Check out our social medias under NAVWAR or our NIWC Atlantic website. Links are in the description, so there's another one in the books. Thanks for listening. If you have a story that you think should be included in this podcast, please contact us at our Public Affairs email address, which is listed in the description. 00;21;14;17 - 00;21;34;26 Unknown Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, also known as NIWC, is the East Coast branch of the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command within the Department of the Navy, we develop a range of technologies that provide state of the art capabilities to the United States military.