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We recently spoke with Chris Kelly, president of go-to-market at Delinea, about the state of government security and why identity-related protection is necessary in an AI-driven threat landscape.
Nation-state attacks aren’t new, but they are evolving
Kelly now oversees Delinea’s go-to-market strategy, but he’s spent over 20 years working in privileged access and identity security. He says the security challenges within the public sector are evolving as threat actors continue to operationalize their attack strategies.
“The sophistication and weaponization of that is what we have really seen a dramatic increase in over the past year,” said Kelly. “North Korea, Iran, China, for example, they aren’t new threat actors, but the ways they are operationalizing attacks is changing.”
While AI is being touted by many for its potential to augment security teams, it is also being leveraged by threat actors to automate their attack operations. With AI-driven threats increasing how quickly machine identities and other attacks can be executed, Kelly says it’s more crucial than ever for security professionals to stay informed.
“Attackers are evolving at such a rate that we can’t just sit back,” Kelly added. “This has always been a cat and mouse game, but threat actors are now staying ahead of the curve because of how sophisticated they can be in their approach.”
Why identity security is more important now than ever
Kelly stresses that identity security will be paramount for agencies moving forward. Again, identity-related security measures aren’t new, but they offer defense against AI-native attack vectors.
“Identity is the new perimeter. Compromised credentials, mismanagement of accounts and other access issues are critical now,” Kelly said. “What I’ve seen over the time I’ve spent working in this space is that identity is being treated as a critical aspect of security because it’s become a critical attack vector.”
Identity-related attacks have seen a surge this year in all areas, and Kelly says government agencies are also feeling the pressure. Just recently, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved to fire at least two dozen FEMA employees, including IT executives, following a breach. According to reporting from multiple outlets, a hacker used compromised credentials to access agency’s network remote desktop software.
Phishing attempts are also becoming harder for even well-trained eyes to spot, and recent research suggests mismanagement might be the biggest attack vector risk of all.
The public-private partnerships driving success for critical security measures
Delinea offers a variety of security solutions through its platform, which it says enables users to discover identities, assign appropriate access levels, detect irregularities, and immediately respond to identity threats in real-time across their environments.
Earlier this year, the company appointed channel veteran Alex Thurber to lead its global channel program to further drive growth.
“Security is what keeps the Internet useful,” Thurber told us in May. “We’re the only cloud-native platform focused on identity security.”
Kelly says public and private entities alike need to work together to ensure critical infrastructure and other top priorities can remain as secure as possible.
“It truly is a partnership here. Things like FedRAMP give us a common, level playing field to work towards,” said Kelly. “It is critical that positions agencies with a high degree of confidence in their technology.”
Kelly also told Channel Insider that the opportunity to address risk in such a critical time and place is why he remains passionate about an industry that he has dedicated over a decade of his career to.
