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Welcome to Supply chain now.

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The voice of global supply chain.

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Supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience.

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The people, the technologies, the best practices, and today's critical issues, the challenges and opportunities.

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Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Lewton

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be.

Scott Lewton

Scott Lewton and Kevin L.

Scott Lewton

Jackson with you here on supply chain now.

Scott Lewton

Welcome to today's show.

Scott Lewton

Kevin, how you doing today?

Kevin L. Jackson

Hey, man, I am doing great.

Kevin L. Jackson

You know, this manufacturing stuff is really getting me hype.

Kevin L. Jackson

And today's.

Kevin L. Jackson

And today's guest, I mean, wow, just go to the top, right?

Scott Lewton

That's right.

Scott Lewton

We booked him through his agent, pulled him from his rock and roll tour.

Scott Lewton

But you mentioned manufacturing.

Scott Lewton

So, folks, we got a big show here today where we focus on a really interesting intersection of cybersecurity manufacturing, like Kevin said, but also all in the aviation industry.

Scott Lewton

Right.

Scott Lewton

So we're going to be diving into a variety of intriguing topics with a cyber pro on the move, including how the tidal wave of innovative digital transformation has changed the game when it comes to cybersecurity, especially in the manufacturer industry.

Scott Lewton

So, folks, stay tuned for a great conversation here today.

Scott Lewton

Kevin, we're going to promise and deliver here today, right?

Kevin L. Jackson

Absolutely.

Kevin L. Jackson

I can't wait.

Scott Lewton

Well, so we should add that today's episode is presented in partnership with our friends at Microsoft, who's doing some pretty cool things in industry, helping to move us all forward successfully.

Scott Lewton

More on that a bit later, but with what we said, let's introduce our featured guest here today.

Scott Lewton

He is the pride of Saxy, Texas.

Scott Lewton

And we'll tell you how to spell that later.

Scott Lewton

Our guest today is an experienced information security professional with a proven track record of supporting organizations ranging from tech startups to Fortune 500 companies to the US Department of Defense.

Scott Lewton

Get this.

Scott Lewton

He's been featured in top cyber news Magazines 2022 list of 40 under 40.

Scott Lewton

He's also a proud veteran of the United States army, where he served on active duty as a military intelligence analyst.

Scott Lewton

Please join us in welcoming in Thomas Marr, senior cybersystem security engineer at Lockheed Martin.

Scott Lewton

Thomas, how you doing?

Thomas Marr

Hey, how's it going, Scott?

Thomas Marr

I'm doing great.

Thomas Marr

Proud to be here.

Thomas Marr

Hope you're doing well, too.

Scott Lewton

We're doing wonderful and great to have you, Kevin.

Scott Lewton

Kevin and I.

Scott Lewton

Kevin.

Scott Lewton

We've been looking forward to this conversation, huh?

Kevin L. Jackson

Yeah, absolutely.

Kevin L. Jackson

I mean, uh, you know, Lockheed Martin leads the world.

Kevin L. Jackson

It's the world's largest defense manufacturer, I believe.

Scott Lewton

Well, you know, I'm going to see if y'all know your stuff here in a second, because I've pulled some platforms, some iconic platforms that they're responsible for.

Scott Lewton

But before we get there, I got two warm up questions I want to pose to you, Thomas.

Scott Lewton

The first one, some folks, when they hear saxy, Texas, which is, I think, your hometown, they may be assuming how it's spelled, but it's not spelled like it sounds.

Scott Lewton

How's it spelled?

Thomas Marr

It's spelled s a c h s e.

Thomas Marr

A lot of people get the name wrong, though, so.

Thomas Marr

And I don't blame him.

Scott Lewton

Well, I don't blame either.

Scott Lewton

I had, when I, when first met Thomas and found out where he's from, I googled it and I'm like, man, that just does not, it doesn't connect.

Scott Lewton

But it's not a really big town either.

Scott Lewton

How about how many folks live there, you think, Thomas?

Thomas Marr

I haven't seen the numbers recently, but I know that it's grown a lot since I grew up there.

Thomas Marr

It's grown rapidly, too rapidly, in my opinion.

Thomas Marr

But, you know, is what it is.

Scott Lewton

And it's part of that growth, huh?

Thomas Marr

No, I like, I like having a small town feel.

Thomas Marr

I've been told I'm an old soul in that way.

Thomas Marr

But, you know, it is what it is.

Scott Lewton

It is what it is.

Scott Lewton

But it is also part of Saksi, Texas, part of the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex, which is some really cool things going on across that metro area.

Scott Lewton

One more quick question for you, Thomas and Kevin.

Scott Lewton

You're going to kick out this, too.

Scott Lewton

So Thomas is a fellow veteran, as I mentioned in his intro, having served in the army, I got to ask you, Thomas, because, you know, I'm an air force veteran.

Scott Lewton

Kevin is a Navy veteran and former naval aviator.

Scott Lewton

So he's, he's the cooler one out of the two of us.

Scott Lewton

But, Thomas, what was one of your favorite experiences in the army as you served in uniformity?

Thomas Marr

Sure.

Thomas Marr

Serving uniform, particularly as it relates to our discussion topics today, I had the opportunity to serve an honorable mission as a signals intelligence analyst.

Thomas Marr

I never deployed, luckily, but I was able to serve my country from home and take care of my family as well.

Thomas Marr

So I'm proud of my time there.

Thomas Marr

I also had to learn anything that emits a signal.

Thomas Marr

I was expected to continuously grow my knowledge of.

Thomas Marr

And for me, that's what started that mindset of continuous growth, which is something that's imperative in this industry, in my opinion.

Thomas Marr

So the continuous learning.

Thomas Marr

Yeah, absolutely.

Thomas Marr

The continuous growth mindset, I'd say the army was responsible for that.

Thomas Marr

So I have them to thank for that.

Thomas Marr

In terms of the knowledge that I gained from the army, there was a lot of overlapping knowledge that allowed me to transition specifically into a cyber security focused role, whereas I had security related responsibilities beforehand.

Thomas Marr

I was able to get into a more focused role when I transitioned from the military.

Thomas Marr

Non tech related, I'd say, being night shift during my time at AIT, because most people are like, night shift, that's terrible.

Scott Lewton

Which.

Thomas Marr

Reasonably so, but that's when all the drill instructors were asleep.

Thomas Marr

So he never got picked on.

Kevin L. Jackson

You shared a lot of.

Scott Lewton

We're going to circle back to that, because we're going to ask you in a minute how a lot of that background contributed to you landing your current position in just a second.

Scott Lewton

But Kevin, he shares some cool things there on a serious note.

Scott Lewton

He talked about the power of the continuous learning mindset, which, especially in technology.

Scott Lewton

Well, for that matter, if you're in supply chain technology or leadership, it doesn't matter what field you're in.

Scott Lewton

That's really important.

Scott Lewton

And then he talked about kind of tongue in cheek, how cool it is to be on night shift, where you might got away with a thing or two.

Scott Lewton

Kevin, what'd you hear there from our friend Thomas?

Kevin L. Jackson

Well, first of all, I'll forgive him for being in the army.

Kevin L. Jackson

You know, it's okay.

Kevin L. Jackson

The only reason I'm doing that, because he's a fellow siginter, right.

Kevin L. Jackson

I did a lot of sigging when I was in the navy.

Kevin L. Jackson

So those are low Earth orbit type of collectors, so I can relate there.

Scott Lewton

Well, so let me ask y'all, let's.

Scott Lewton

Let's play a little platform trivia here, right?

Kevin L. Jackson

All right.

Scott Lewton

Um.

Scott Lewton

I've got three famous, iconic aircraft that Lockheed Martin is responsible for bringing to the world, right?

Scott Lewton

C 130 Hercules, which I think is still the longest, the longest military vehicle of any kind in production, like 50 or 60 years, I believe.

Thomas Marr

F 16.

Scott Lewton

Yeah.

Scott Lewton

Continuously product produce.

Scott Lewton

That's right.

Scott Lewton

Thomas, you know your stuff.

Scott Lewton

Now I can tell.

Scott Lewton

The f 16 fighting falcon.

Scott Lewton

Right.

Scott Lewton

Incredible.

Scott Lewton

One of the world's most dominant fighters, air force platform.

Scott Lewton

And then, of course, more newer, the f 35 lightning two, which has been deployed across a couple different services.

Scott Lewton

Kevin, out of those, Europe being you being the pilot of those three, what's your favorite out of those three or others from Lockheed Martin?

Kevin L. Jackson

Well, you may be surprised, but I'm going to say c 130, because the c 130 I flew up in the living room of the c 130 up in the cockpit, really, from the Philippines to Australia, and I was celebrating, and we went to Perth, where I celebrated the 4 July in the middle of the winter on the beach.

Kevin L. Jackson

So the trick on the c 130 was just, it was just a great time in my life.

Kevin L. Jackson

So I.

Kevin L. Jackson

I'm gonna have to say to c 130 and you.

Kevin L. Jackson

I was at.

Kevin L. Jackson

I was in VRC 50.

Kevin L. Jackson

It was an 80 c 130.

Scott Lewton

Okay, well, so, so our listeners and viewers out there, if you're unfamiliar with the c 130, it is called a Hercules.

Scott Lewton

It is a cargo aircraft with four props, and it is incredibly durable, versatile, and it's got an iconic look to it.

Scott Lewton

You've probably seen it in the past.

Scott Lewton

Thomas, are those platforms or others?

Scott Lewton

Because you got helicopters and then other platforms that the company is responsible for.

Scott Lewton

What's one of your favorite?

Thomas Marr

That's.

Thomas Marr

That's a really tough one.

Thomas Marr

I don't think it'd be right to give a preference personally, but I think they're all great.

Thomas Marr

I think they have their own, all their own advantages, and I don't think you could go wrong with any of them.

Scott Lewton

I'm with you.

Thomas Marr

If you use them for their intended purpose, of course.

Scott Lewton

A little disclaimer.

Scott Lewton

Important disclaimer.

Scott Lewton

Okay, so let's shift gears a bit here.

Scott Lewton

I want to go back to kind of your professional journey before we dive deeper into manufacturing cybersecurity in the aviation industry.

Scott Lewton

So you were touched on a minute ago about how your background helped contribute to you landing your current position at Lockheed Martin.

Scott Lewton

Can you elaborate a little bit more on that?

Thomas Marr

Yeah.

Thomas Marr

So one of the things that I learned during my time in service was computer networking.

Thomas Marr

I'd say that's one of the fundamental aspects in cybersecurity in general.

Thomas Marr

That and computer architecture.

Thomas Marr

So, yeah, computer architecture, computer networking, and operating systems, I'd say, are the three most fundamental things they need to learn to get a job in tech.

Thomas Marr

I was also fortunate to learn some Osint.

Thomas Marr

I took an OsinT course whenever I was in the army, and I learned some exploitation techniques.

Thomas Marr

I think the very first one I learned was SQL injection.

Thomas Marr

So I had a, I had a really good time in the army and learning what was relevant to my current role.

Scott Lewton

Okay, Kevin, I need your help interpreting everything that Thomas just shared there.

Scott Lewton

You know this.

Scott Lewton

I'm the operational.

Scott Lewton

I'm the supply chain guy here.

Scott Lewton

Kevin, what'd you hear there from Thomas?

Kevin L. Jackson

Well, first of all, from a IT security point of view, looks like he really enjoys getting down in the weeds, right?

Kevin L. Jackson

I hear that he really likes that.

Kevin L. Jackson

Maybe I'm wrong, but he likes that defensive physician trying to protect the network and the applications from ATT and CK.

Kevin L. Jackson

Is that what you really enjoy?

Thomas Marr

Yeah, I definitely would consider myself more of a blue teamer.

Thomas Marr

I'd say your assessment's correct.

Scott Lewton

Well, so let's keep going.

Scott Lewton

Let's go right down that topic a little more.

Scott Lewton

So tell us about your job.

Scott Lewton

Whatever you can share.

Scott Lewton

As a senior cybersystem security engineer at Lockheed Martin's skunk works, Thomas, what do you do?

Thomas Marr

So, like you said, there's limits as to what I can talk about.

Thomas Marr

When it comes to skunkworks, it's one of the most secretive engineering teams in the world.

Thomas Marr

It means I get to do a lot of cool things, and it also means having a security clearance that I'm a lot more accountable than the average citizen.

Thomas Marr

But, yeah.

Thomas Marr

What you describe, cybersecurity engineering, getting into the weeds.

Thomas Marr

I feel like it safely described that without getting in trouble.

Scott Lewton

That's good.

Scott Lewton

Cause I don't want to get in trouble with any big corporation, with an army of attorneys or the us government.

Scott Lewton

Thomas?

Kevin L. Jackson

Yeah, but me neither.

Scott Lewton

You neither.

Thomas Marr

That's right.

Scott Lewton

Kevin, you were about to say something.

Kevin L. Jackson

Yeah.

Kevin L. Jackson

So.

Kevin L. Jackson

Thomas.

Kevin L. Jackson

I mean, like, in mine, there's aviation, and aviation has really changed a lot.

Kevin L. Jackson

And as a cyber security professional, what's your role?

Thomas Marr

So my role currently at Lockheed Martin is a platform security engineer.

Thomas Marr

I'd say my responsibilities are relatively broad, but I feel like if I was to describe my role, that'd probably be the best descriptor.

Scott Lewton

Yeah, that sounds good.

Scott Lewton

And we don't want you to describe any more details, Thomas, because, as I mentioned, we got national security factors at play here.

Scott Lewton

But I appreciate what you do.

Scott Lewton

There's an army of folks, and I'm sure you all have a full plate protecting all that infrastructure from the bad actors out there.

Scott Lewton

And, gosh, there's no shortage of them.

Scott Lewton

I want to pose this question to you, Thomas.

Scott Lewton

Kevin and I were talking about this pre show.

Scott Lewton

How does information technology cybersecurity differ from operational technology cybersecurity?

Scott Lewton

Your thoughts here.

Scott Lewton

Thomas?

Thomas Marr

Sure.

Thomas Marr

So operational technology.

Thomas Marr

I'll start with that.

Thomas Marr

So operational technology utilizes proprietary software to perform their function autonomously.

Thomas Marr

I'd say the most common example we see is industrial control systems, or ICS.

Thomas Marr

Those ICS deploy SCADA systems using programmable logic controllers to pick up information from sensors and make adjustments accordingly, like temperature or machine productivity, whereas it uses, well, operating systems that are more commonly known, like Windows and iOS.

Thomas Marr

And it's more focused on network maintenance and applications and systems testing.

Thomas Marr

So that's where the two differ.

Scott Lewton

Okay, Kevin, that makes a lot of sense.

Scott Lewton

I think a lot of folks, I think a lot more folks could better understand the difference between it and OT, especially from a cyber standpoint, huh?

Kevin L. Jackson

Yeah, absolutely.

Kevin L. Jackson

As a.

Kevin L. Jackson

As a back home engineer, did you do one more than the other, or is he said, your work is blood, or do you sort of straddle the line?

Thomas Marr

So I would say straddle line.

Thomas Marr

If by straddling the line, you mean a little bit of both, I'd say I can safely say that, yeah.

Scott Lewton

Outstanding.

Scott Lewton

Outstanding.

Scott Lewton

All right, so I got to pose this question to you, Thomas.

Scott Lewton

A year or so ago, a study by dragos.

Scott Lewton

I think I'm saying that, right, a manufacturing industry OT cybersecurity company.

Scott Lewton

Well, they said that 89%, based on their research of manufacturers, had limited visibility into their operational technology systems right back to the OT, making them easier targets for threat actors and hampering their productivity and efficiency.

Scott Lewton

Thomas, what's your take here?

Scott Lewton

Do you tend to agree with that, with those findings?

Scott Lewton

Your thoughts?

Thomas Marr

Absolutely.

Thomas Marr

And I was actually able to read that study, too, and personally, it doesn't surprise me.

Thomas Marr

To me.

Thomas Marr

That's why sending system and network logs to a centralized monitoring software, like a SiM, to contextualize information when it comes to security, is recommended.

Thomas Marr

And to do that, you need to make sure you keep an inventory to maximize that visibility and know where those logs are coming from.

Scott Lewton

Interesting.

Scott Lewton

And, Kevin, visibility has been the name of the game in so many different ways in recent years.

Scott Lewton

Certainly supply chain visibility, manufacturing visibility, as it applies to cybersecurity and more.

Scott Lewton

Your thoughts here, Kevin?

Kevin L. Jackson

Well, first, you know, that maybe comes through Robert.

Kevin L. Jackson

A little acronym SAM was shot for security information and event management.

Kevin L. Jackson

This is really tools that help you detect, analyze, and respond to security threats.

Kevin L. Jackson

This is a very important, critical tool when it comes to cybersecurity, especially in manufacturing.

Kevin L. Jackson

SIEM is really mostly used for it, and there's very few tools that are designed to support OT.

Kevin L. Jackson

And I think that's one reason why you see that great issue in that.

Scott Lewton

Report in terms of limited visibility, which is a big challenge.

Kevin L. Jackson

Visibility.

Kevin L. Jackson

Exactly.

Scott Lewton

Excellent.

Scott Lewton

Excellent point there.

Scott Lewton

All right, let's talk about another big trend Thomas gets you weigh in on.

Scott Lewton

So, over the past decade or so, the manufacturing industry has undergone rapid digital transformation.

Scott Lewton

That's Kevin's favorite word.

Scott Lewton

It's starting to be my favorite word.

Scott Lewton

Embracing innovations such as digital twins, robotics, automation, machine learning, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, another one of Kevin's favorites.

Scott Lewton

He wrote the book on that, at least one of them.

Scott Lewton

And the industrial Internet of Things.

Scott Lewton

Right.

Scott Lewton

It's an exciting time to be in industry, certainly in manufacturing and certainly in the aviation industry.

Scott Lewton

But all of those advancements changes the cybersecurity game.

Scott Lewton

Weigh in on what you see and how the threat continues to evolve.

Thomas Marr

So it may be excited for that industry, but for cybersecurity, it's extremely stressful.

Thomas Marr

I'll leave with that.

Thomas Marr

So it can both positively and negatively affect cybersecurity.

Thomas Marr

I'll start with the positive.

Thomas Marr

It allows for innovation in the security space.

Thomas Marr

All those buzzwords that you mentioned.

Thomas Marr

However, the stressor part is where business leaders are a bit too eager to push out a new technology without fully understanding the security implications, which results in a lifetime of utilizing bolt on security instead of addressing an underlying systemic problem beforehand.

Thomas Marr

That's my take.

Scott Lewton

Yep.

Scott Lewton

So, Kevin, not only does it keep cyber professionals up at night like Tom's kind of having a little fun with the beginning of his response, but, you know, all of those new technologies, it puts a lot of pressure on the workforce, right?

Scott Lewton

Because going back to that continuous learning mindset, they've got to get up to speed on how to apply it, not just for the sake of applying it.

Scott Lewton

Right, but to get the results and to be able to deliver and produce efficiently and successfully and being able to know how these technologies operate within each other, let alone their companies.

Scott Lewton

And let me just add another challenge, since we're talking about friction points out there, trying to do so in a secure environment, and not just cyber, but we're going to talk about in a minute about supply chain security in a broader sense as well.

Scott Lewton

So, Kevin, it's not easy on hardly any of us these days, despite the gains we're making as an industry, huh?

Kevin L. Jackson

Well, no, not at all.

Kevin L. Jackson

You think about platforms like DF 35 lightning and advances like artificial intelligence.

Kevin L. Jackson

I mean, all of the sensors on that platform are leveraging artificial intelligence in order to make sense of the creates, give situational awareness to the pilot and to the battle force.

Kevin L. Jackson

And AI itself is threatening, has cyber threats that have to be protected.

Kevin L. Jackson

And this is even more of a danger when you're operating in denied airspace.

Kevin L. Jackson

So talk about headaches.

Kevin L. Jackson

Absolutely.

Scott Lewton

Plenty of them to go around.

Scott Lewton

And it goes without saying, too, Thomas and Kevin.

Scott Lewton

And this is obvious, but I think it's worth calling out that in any technology transformation, of course, the good actors and the folks trying to contribute positively to the world are able to leverage all those things.

Scott Lewton

But unfortunately, that bad actors can apply that same innovative technology to doing bad things.

Scott Lewton

Right.

Scott Lewton

It's so intriguing, the cyber world, Thomas kind of the back and forth as each side starts to get an advantage.

Scott Lewton

Just the evolution of that challenge is just.

Scott Lewton

It's fascinating to me.

Kevin L. Jackson

Yeah.

Kevin L. Jackson

One thing you'd mention.

Kevin L. Jackson

The Internet of things.

Kevin L. Jackson

Well, you know, the industrial Internet of things is really underpins every activity of the DoD.

Kevin L. Jackson

When you have autonomous vehicles running around, you have drones running around, you have radios that are connected to the Internet, or even small sensors out in the field.

Kevin L. Jackson

You have to manage all of that, and you have to protect it against all of the associated cyber threats.

Kevin L. Jackson

So they're.

Kevin L. Jackson

The challenge just multiplies.

Scott Lewton

Yeah.

Scott Lewton

Every hour, I bet.

Scott Lewton

Sometimes.

Scott Lewton

I bet it feels like every minute, Thomas.

Thomas Marr

And you know, a second.

Scott Lewton

That's right.

Scott Lewton

I gotta add this, too.

Scott Lewton

As you were sharing that, Kevin, I'll tell you, we sure do love our acronyms.

Scott Lewton

Iota.

Scott Lewton

D o d o t I t.

Scott Lewton

Man, it's like a bowl Alphabet soup.

Scott Lewton

All right, so let's.

Scott Lewton

I wanna ask you about this, Thomas, and I know this is sensitive, but inquiring minds gotta know a lot of our listeners and viewers and audience members.

Scott Lewton

I bet they've heard of skunk works before.

Scott Lewton

I know I have.

Scott Lewton

To Kevin's point, earlier, at the front end, a legendary, innovative factory.

Scott Lewton

Right.

Scott Lewton

I saw some articles.

Scott Lewton

Somewhere to 85.

Scott Lewton

85% of the work at Skunk works there at Lockheed Martin is classified and performed in secrecy to protect our national security.

Scott Lewton

So, inquiring minds, again want to know, how does that affect your everyday activities?

Thomas Marr

Absolutely.

Thomas Marr

Well, to put it succinctly, it means I get to do a lot of cool stuff that I can't talk about.

Thomas Marr

Well, the most important part, having the security clearance.

Thomas Marr

And I being cognizant of your clearance levels that you're working with.

Thomas Marr

And not just at work either.

Thomas Marr

You're required to maintain a lifestyle that's considered our nation's interests.

Thomas Marr

That's more responsibility than the average citizen.

Thomas Marr

So it does affect me day to day, not just at the workplace.

Kevin L. Jackson

Yeah.

Kevin L. Jackson

One thing also, I would say that concourse has a big target on it.

Kevin L. Jackson

So from a security point of view, you have multiple threat actors and nation states trying to break into your.

Kevin L. Jackson

Into your environment.

Kevin L. Jackson

So I'm sure that keeps you busy.

Kevin L. Jackson

Maybe that keeps you awake at night.

Thomas Marr

Yeah, well, we have multiple teams that handle their responsibilities well.

Thomas Marr

But absolutely, it's definitely something to be cognizant of knowing that there's target on your back because of the gravity of what you're working with.

Scott Lewton

That's right.

Scott Lewton

You know, back in my air force days, I did not have a top secret clearance.

Scott Lewton

I think I had a secret clearance, right.

Scott Lewton

But I still remember the Opsec, the compusec, where you placed in files, and then, of course, when computers came along, it moved from paper files to floppy disks and stuff.

Scott Lewton

And being mindful of all that, as you said, Thomas, that is an incredible responsibility.

Scott Lewton

And I'm sure in an environment like skunk works, it takes it to a whole new level.

Scott Lewton

Kevin, your last word.

Scott Lewton

Because as a naval aviator, I bet you, I'm not sure if you ever visited skunk works after you were telling us about your C 130 ride to Perth, Australia.

Scott Lewton

I tell you, I knew that the C 130 Hercules had transported plenty of things I didn't know it had transported.

Scott Lewton

Kevin L.

Scott Lewton

Jackson, in addition to everything else, you ever visited skunk works.

Kevin L. Jackson

Kevin, you know, I haven't had the opportunity or to proceed to visit scun works, one of those things you would love to go, but it's hard to.

Scott Lewton

Get there, hard to get in.

Scott Lewton

It's very, very, it's like the Augusta national or an incredible social club that not many people get in.

Scott Lewton

Thomas, you get to wear the green jacket, I guess.

Scott Lewton

All right, let's switch gears here.

Scott Lewton

So, aerospace parts, most know, got to meet strict quality standards and tolerances because you got lives are at risk, right?

Scott Lewton

All that requires companies to attain certifications, registrations, and a whole bunch more.

Scott Lewton

It also places a high demand on supply chain security.

Scott Lewton

Of course, any supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link across its ecosystem.

Scott Lewton

So, Thomas, can you share a few thoughts as to how supply chain security is addressed at Lockheed Martin?

Thomas Marr

So, as a government contractor, Lockheed Martin is required to follow Nisanner Dash 53, which does have contain security information regarding supply chain.

Thomas Marr

But as a company, Lockheed Martin himself also has a supply chain risk management team.

Thomas Marr

And the supply chain risk management team enforces a supplier code of conduct regarding all purchase orders made by Lockheed Martin.

Thomas Marr

Other ways that Lockheed Martin addresses supply chain security include recommendations they give on implementing physical security safeguards and an insider threat program.

Scott Lewton

And it sounds like to me, Kevin, it's a mixture of protocol, policy, probably technology.

Scott Lewton

Of course, the teams deployed to ensure that there's supply chain security across the massive ecosystem that makes up the Lockheed Martin global supply chain community.

Scott Lewton

Your thoughts here?

Scott Lewton

Kevin?

Kevin L. Jackson

Yeah, I think one of the biggest challenges is managing the IT or network connections between Blackheed Martin and its suppliers.

Kevin L. Jackson

I know that the Vod leverages system or policies called CMMC, which is a cybersecurity maturity model certification that's required of all DoD contractors and their suppliers.

Kevin L. Jackson

I think that goes a long way towards protecting the cybersecurity of the supply chain water supply mesh, as I like to call it.

Scott Lewton

Yes, that's one of your favorite words.

Scott Lewton

So a great call out, too.

Scott Lewton

Allison Kreachy Giddens, who leads a aviation manufacturing company and machine shop in the metro Atlanta area.

Scott Lewton

Kevin, fellow supply chain, now co host here, has become quite the leader in the whole CMMC movement, especially to your point, how that helps to navigate and govern the defense supply base between the public sector, the private sector, and help protect that whole ecosystem as well.

Scott Lewton

Some interesting discussions that she has been leading there.

Scott Lewton

All right, one other thing to call out, because while Thomas being a cyber pro, he is a cyber rock and roll star that he is, really focuses, I think, a lot of his efforts around supply chain cybersecurity.

Scott Lewton

Right.

Scott Lewton

But supply chain security, goodness gracious, is not from the faint of heart in a more, in a fuller sense.

Scott Lewton

Right.

Scott Lewton

Cargo theft is up.

Scott Lewton

Cyber attacks have increased and gotten more complex.

Scott Lewton

Geopolitical threats abound.

Scott Lewton

Goodness gracious.

Scott Lewton

We've got to continue to evolve as an industry and change how supply chain management is done and protected.

Scott Lewton

And thankfully, we've got some smart folks like Thomas and Kevin, the technologists out there that's helping us to do that in many ways.

Scott Lewton

Kevin, last word before we leave supply chain security, and maybe the technology side of that last word.

Scott Lewton

And I'm going to talk about the cloud, especially from a manufacturer perspective.

Kevin L. Jackson

No, I think it's really important to understand that the supply chain chain also includes your information supply chain, and one of the most vulnerable areas in any supply chain is software.

Kevin L. Jackson

So I'm sure those who really focuses, that's something Thomas and his team focuses on, no doubt.

Scott Lewton

Thomas, that's a pretty safe hunch, huh?

Thomas Marr

That's pretty safe hunch, indeed.

Scott Lewton

All right.

Scott Lewton

This is called interviewing someone with a top secret national clearance, folks, there's only certain things we can talk about, understandably.

Scott Lewton

So, again, we're having a little fun with it.

Scott Lewton

But, hey, that's the importance of national security.

Scott Lewton

So let's talk about modern manufacturing data.

Scott Lewton

It's often stored in the cloud.

Scott Lewton

Right.

Scott Lewton

But some say aerospace companies are generally discouraged from using cloud storage due to the immense security challenges.

Scott Lewton

Now, I imagine the incredible benefits of cloud technology.

Scott Lewton

I bet Kevin, I bet that gets his vote, too, are too good to pass up.

Scott Lewton

So how do you overcome those security concerns so you can leverage more of the cloud and all the manufacturer goes on at Lockheed Martin.

Thomas Marr

Absolutely.

Thomas Marr

So when Lockheed Martin utilizes cloud resources, which they do, I can say that they use a cyber resiliency level framework that measures their cyber cybersecurity resiliency when utilizing those cloud resources.

Thomas Marr

More specifically, there's four levels.

Thomas Marr

Level one being the least secure.

Thomas Marr

For being the most secure.

Thomas Marr

Consider things like visibility we were talking about earlier regarding OT and it and SIM, cyber hygiene, cyber requirements, testing and evaluation, architecture, and information sharing.

Scott Lewton

Lots of layers of security.

Scott Lewton

Right.

Scott Lewton

So kind of what I'm hearing as the ops guy here, so that they can lean in and leverage all the goodness and innovation that the cloud brings in efficiencies and productivity sharing information that cloud enables.

Scott Lewton

Kevin, what did you hear there?

Scott Lewton

And what's important for our listeners and viewers to know?

Kevin L. Jackson

What I think what's important to know is that even in toxic and security environments, cloud computing can be safely and securely used.

Kevin L. Jackson

And those different layers that Thomas mentioned, I think the hardest one is really that cyber hygiene.

Kevin L. Jackson

Do you wonder why I picked that out?

Kevin L. Jackson

Because that's where most of the humans fail in their day to day cyber hygiene.

Scott Lewton

That's right.

Scott Lewton

That's right.

Scott Lewton

Because we're human.

Scott Lewton

Right.

Scott Lewton

And while that's a beautiful thing, hey, we mess up a lot.

Scott Lewton

That's just kind of how it goes, you know?

Scott Lewton

Speaking of clouds, reading earlier, Thomas and Kevin about engineering simulations within the aviation industry.

Scott Lewton

Cloud provider had taken this simulation practice that usually had taken days and days for human teams to run, but their cloud based technologies allowed those engineering simulations to take place in a matter of minutes.

Scott Lewton

Man, that makes life a little bit easier for those smart engineers coming up with the next generation of aircraft and designs, all that stuff.

Scott Lewton

All right, so, Thomas, I know that you get invited for interviews, and you speak a lot.

Scott Lewton

Of course, you can't share a whole bunch about what you do day in and day out, but I think you do invite folks to connect with you and have conversations, maybe over a nice cup of coffee or you name it.

Scott Lewton

How can folks connect with you there, Thomas?

Thomas Marr

Absolutely.

Thomas Marr

I'm always happy to have a conversation.

Thomas Marr

I can be found on LinkedIn, and I can also be found on Xibertuff, spelled cyber tu f f.

Thomas Marr

And you got to.

Scott Lewton

Right.

Scott Lewton

If you're a tech pro, you got to come up with a creative spelling of words, right?

Thomas Marr

Yeah.

Thomas Marr

That's like an unspoken role.

Thomas Marr

Yeah, like that.

Thomas Marr

Like that.

Scott Lewton

See Texas, right.

Scott Lewton

S a C H s E.

Scott Lewton

So, folks, connect with Thomas Barr on LinkedIn, connect with thomas own x at cyber tuff stuff, and we'll include that in the show notes, so it's easier to make that connection.

Scott Lewton

Kevin, I'll tell you what, as a veteran that's always been fascinated and been a big old aircraft nerd.

Scott Lewton

I really enjoyed the conversation we've had here with Thomas, especially.

Scott Lewton

You know, a lot of what I've spent in my time in industry has been in the manufacturing industry.

Scott Lewton

Right.

Scott Lewton

It's one of the best parts of global business.

Scott Lewton

But out of everything that Thomas has shared, his personal journey, some of what he does, some of his perspective on cyber issues, especially with the manufacturing and the aviation industry.

Scott Lewton

What's been one of your favorite takeaways from this conversation here today?

Kevin L. Jackson

Well, I mean, one thing that's kind of important to understand is that the challenges that a top secret environment like skunk works has is actually no different than the challenges of our regular everyday manufacturers, because they are all on the Internet, they're all leveraging cloud, they are all leveraging information technology and operational technology in order to deliver better products and services to their chosen industry.

Kevin L. Jackson

So the activities that Lockheed Martin and skunk work does every manufacturer has to focus on.

Kevin L. Jackson

It's broader than you think.

Scott Lewton

Yeah, well said.

Scott Lewton

I completely agree.

Scott Lewton

And you know, speaking of organizations out there helping to make all those challenges easier, our friends at Microsoft doing some pretty cool things in the manufacturing industry, huh?

Kevin L. Jackson

Oh yeah, absolutely.

Kevin L. Jackson

You know, Microsoft is helping us manufacture a sustainable future by unlocking and innovations and introducing new products.

Kevin L. Jackson

They really are helping manufacturers embrace new designs and new manufacturing paradigms to prepare for the future of the industrial metaverse.

Kevin L. Jackson

They're creating resilient supply chains to ensure continuity and reduce risk by providing secure, agile and connected supply chain so you can have always on visibility in your IT environment.

Kevin L. Jackson

And this enables the intelligent factories so that you can automate manufacturing, ensure safe and reliable production and empower the workforce with the power of industrial IoT data and artificial intelligence.

Kevin L. Jackson

They're doing a huge amount.

Scott Lewton

I love, you know, one of our favorite topics talk about is empowering the workforce, empowering the human element, right?

Scott Lewton

And I love that.

Kevin L. Jackson

Powering those humans.

Scott Lewton

That's right.

Scott Lewton

You spike the football on that and you also use the word paradigm.

Scott Lewton

And one of these days I'm gonna figure out what that means.

Thomas Marr

It is three syllables.

Thomas Marr

That's fair.

Scott Lewton

Sorry, Thomas.

Scott Lewton

Well, a big thanks to our friends at Microsoft for the dude in industry and of course for how they're empowering conversations like this that we had here with Thomas Barr.

Scott Lewton

It's been a pleasure to talk with you, Thomas.

Scott Lewton

Really appreciate what you do, appreciate your service to the country, your continued service to the country, and of course what you're doing to protect industry every single day there at Lockheed Martin.

Scott Lewton

So, Thomas Mar, thank you for joining us here today.

Thomas Marr

It's my pleasure.

Thomas Marr

Rangers lead the way.

Scott Lewton

That's right.

Scott Lewton

Every day.

Scott Lewton

Every day.

Scott Lewton

Hey, Kevin, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you how folks can connect with you.

Scott Lewton

Also, how they can connect with the Digital Transformers podcast, which is on the move.

Scott Lewton

How can they track you down?

Kevin L. Jackson

Yeah, absolutely.

Kevin L. Jackson

You know, you can always catch me a supply chain now that digital transformers.

Kevin L. Jackson

And I'm on LinkedIn and on the Big X.

Kevin L. Jackson

Kevin underscore Jackson, reach out anytime.

Scott Lewton

I love it, Kevin.

Scott Lewton

Appreciate what you're doing.

Scott Lewton

Digital transformers, always a pleasure to knock out shows like this with you, Kevin.

Scott Lewton

Already looking forward to the next one.

Kevin L. Jackson

Me too.

Kevin L. Jackson

Thanks.

Scott Lewton

Speaking of thanks, big thanks to all of our listeners and viewers across the globe.

Scott Lewton

Thanks for all your feedback, your show ideas.

Scott Lewton

Keep it coming.

Scott Lewton

We really appreciate that.

Scott Lewton

Big thanks to Thomas Marr with Lockheed Martin.

Scott Lewton

Thomas, thanks for what you do.

Scott Lewton

Thanks for serving the country, serving industry, and continuing to lead the charge to protect our global supply chains out there.

Scott Lewton

Appreciate you being here, Thomas.

Thomas Marr

Thank you.

Thomas Marr

It's an honor.

Scott Lewton

You bet.

Scott Lewton

Big thanks one last time to our cloud partners over at Microsoft as well, helping us bring these wonderful conversations and people and leaders and ideas to our global audience.

Scott Lewton

So, folks, hopefully you enjoyed this episode as much as I have.

Scott Lewton

Whatever you do, your homework's one thing.

Scott Lewton

You gotta take one idea, one best practice that Thomas or Kevin shared here today.

Scott Lewton

Put it into practice.

Scott Lewton

Your teams are ready to do business differently.

Scott Lewton

And, gosh, we gotta stand and deliver and help them make that happen.

Scott Lewton

So with all that said on behalf of Splotcha and our team, Scott Leon Challenge, you do good.

Scott Lewton

Give forward.

Scott Lewton

Be the change that's needed.

Scott Lewton

We'll see you next time.

Scott Lewton

Right back here at Supplache now.

Scott Lewton

Thanks for.

Scott Lewton

Bye.

Host

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Host

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Host

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Host

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