For the fifth year, the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) brought its Common Threads event to Huntsville. This year’s theme, Cyber Threats & the Evolving National Security Landscape, set the tone for unclassified and classified programming at the Jackson Center.

At the event, public and private sector leaders came together to network and address the rapidly changing dynamics of cyber warfare, intelligence, and interagency collaboration.

Common Threads kicked off on Wednesday, May 14, with a welcome reception and a keynote address from Michael Machtinger, Section Chief for the FBI’s Cyber Division.

Machtinger oversees both the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and CyWatch, the Bureau’s 24/7 cyber operations center.

Before Machtinger spoke, Huntsville’s recently appointed Chief Innovation Officer, Larry Lowe, addressed the crowd briefly.

Lowe noted that under Mayor Tommy Battle’s leadership, initiatives like Cyber Huntsville and the new AI Huntsville Task Force are helping to position the city at the forefront of national security innovation.

“Huntsville has long recognized the critical importance of staying ahead in areas vital to our economic growth and our nation’s security, given our relationship with Redstone Arsenal,” Lowe said.

Lowe continued, “These groups demonstrate our commitment to deeply understanding the challenges we face and developing strategic approaches to address them. Likewise, events like Common Threads and the professional groups behind them, like INSA, play crucial roles in the strategic framework of our nation’s defense.”

Machtinger outlined the FBI’s focus on combating cyber threats from ransomware and nation-state actors, including Iran, North Korea, Russia, and China.

He also emphasized the importance of partnerships with the private sector and other government agencies to tackle these threats.

“We in the intelligence community can’t do it alone, and everyone here who’s a public sector employee, I think, would agree with that sentiment, and having organizations like INSA and partnerships with the private sector are just so important to this threat,” Machtinger said.

During his speech, Machtinger highlighted how the FBI shifted from a reactive to a proactive cyber strategy five years ago.

“We made a concerted change to our cyber mission, and that was a pivot point away from a reactionary approach to cyber attacks to a more strategic and assertive stance that has empowered us to bring the fight directly to those who aim to do us harm,” Machtinger said.

During a question and answer session at the end of the event, he was asked about plans for the continued growth of the FBI’s cyber division in Huntsville.

“I think we’re looking at 1400 to 1500 more folks coming into Huntsville over the next year. We’re still building in Huntsville, and we’re still working to add capacity,” Machtinger stated.

Machtinger praised the city’s talent pool, citing the workforce coming out of Redstone Arsenal and the broader aerospace and tech communities.

“The labor market here obviously has a fantastic amount of skill and talent based not only on Redstone Arsenal, but other space industry and areas of technology that we need to grow into to be able to combat all the threats that I’ve been talking about,” Machtinger said.

In a personal appeal to attendees, he reminded the crowd that if they ever find themselves a victim, the FBI is committed to being there when they need it most.

“The most important thing to know about the FBI and our cyber program is that we are victim-focused above anything else. We are going to be here on your worst day to help you pick up the pieces, just as we are for every victim of every crime we investigate,” Machtinger shared.

The second day of Common Threads, held on Thursday, May 15, was limited to attendees with active Secret/NOFORN security clearances.

Speakers included:

MG Barb Fast, USA (Ret.), President/CEO, BGF Enterprises LLC (Moderator)
Cynthia Kaiser: Deputy Assistant Director, FBI Cyber Division
Leo Lawson Jr.: U.S. Army Materiel Command Division Chief, Cyberspace Operations
Steven Rush: Director, Missile and Space Intelligence Center, DIA
Bob Scharmann: VP, Cyber Accelerator, Leidos

With its deep bench of defense expertise and progress-driven leadership, Huntsville continues to keep security conversations top of mind by hosting events like Common Threads and other similar gatherings.