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DAHLGREN, Va. – How easy is it to hack a pacemaker? Your "FitBit"
is designed to track your physical movements. Who else can see it?
These are among the myriad of questions Naval Surface Warfare
Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) engineer Brenden McMullen researched for
six months as a member of a focus group sponsored by the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2014.
The questions McMullen
and his counterparts analyzed had one common denominator – “wearable
and embeddable technology."
They examined surgically
implanted items, such as pacemakers and telemetry, as well as
wearable items ranging from physical fitness bands and chips to
medical telemetry, including LifeAlert and GoogleGlass.
Like
McMullen, scores of federal and private sector experts throughout
the country volunteered their spare time to participate in the
program – managed by the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis on
behalf of the Director of National Intelligence – to identify
threats, risks, and vulnerabilities associated with wearable and
embeddable technologies.
“What the private sector volunteers
contributed was nothing short of genius,” said McMullen. “This was a
great way to engage in cutting-edge technology. The government
intelligence community volunteers were equally talented, and brought
the necessary contexts from their respective organizations.”
The annual initiative – officially known as the Intelligence
Community Analyst-Private Sector Partnership Program – facilitates
collaborative partnerships between members of the private sector and
teams of experienced intelligence community analysts. It provides
intelligence community analysts and private sector partners with a
better understanding of select national security and homeland
security issues.
“I was particularly impressed with the
level of expertise and experience in the working groups,” said
McMullen, whose active duty positions ranged from Naval Diving and
Salvage Training Center dive instructor to Camp David medical
officer before he retired as a Navy senior chief special amphibious
reconnaissance corpsman. “Programs like this are important to
participate in, and a great way to stay abreast with new and
emerging science that impacts national security.”
Jennifer
Lasley, former Department of Homeland Security, deputy
undersecretary for analysis, Office of Intelligence and Analysis,
also considers the volunteers' participation important. In a letter
to NSWCDD expressing appreciation for McMullen's contribution to the
program, she stressed that her DHS office and the director of
National Intelligence recognize the critical value of public-private
sector partnerships in contributing to the national security
mission.
The effort seeks to increase the depth of expertise
among the participating analysts but is not intended as a mechanism
for operational activities or formal coordination between industries
and the intelligence community. It enables the intelligence
community and industry partners to gain insight leading to a better
understanding of their respective areas of expertise.
McMullen's military experience in ground warfare and security, and
underwater and aviation environments, in addition to his current
work as a Navy government civilian in antiterrorism and force
protection positively impacted the group's analytic research and
deliverables, according to Lasley.
“This year's program
would not have been a success without Brenden's active engagement
and partnership,” she said. “We were particularly impressed by the
diversity of analytic deliverables the teams created, and we will
ensure each team's products are widely disseminated to include
posting on the DHS Homeland Security Information Network, as well as
other information sharing environments.”
McMullen was the
only DoD civilian in his group, which included private sector
members from Disney, Monsanto, and St. Jude's Medical. Intelligence
community members in the focus group represented the Defense
Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, FBI, and DHS.
By John Joyce
Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2015
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