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Bill Neugent

Bill Neugent believes engineers, computer scientists, and mathematicians are a misunderstood breed. Contrary to popular belief, they do have more personality than the systems they build and use, according to MITRE's senior cybersecurity engineer.

"A good cybersecurity person must have a passion for the work," he says. "You have to care deeply for the cause and for the human team you work with. MITRE people definitely have a passion for what they do."

It's this attitude that enables Neugent, chief engineer in the Security and Information Operations Division, to be a MITRE employee by day and a novelist by night. He published his first novel, a thriller called No Outward Sign, last year. Thanks to a combination of a timely topic (cyberterrorism) and savvy marketing, the book has at times been an Amazon.com top-500 bestseller. (The book is currently available only online, at several independent booksellers, and by special order from Neugent.)

Neugent has been at MITRE for more than 20 years, always in the computer security field. Some of his notable achievements have included helping senior Department of Defense personnel define and promote the Defense-in-Depth approach to computer security; writing the first intelligence-community-wide cybersecurity strategy; and promoting an increase in work devoted to countering insider threats.

With all that going on in his professional life, why did Neugent take on the demanding role of novelist? "Writing was always my first love, but I studied math and science when I was younger because I wanted to get a job," he says. As he became well established, however, he decided to try his hand at a novel—a big step beyond the essays and other short pieces he'd published earlier. "Writing a book is hard work, especially fiction. I work all day, come home, take a walk with my wife, and eat dinner. Then I write."

He credits his wife, Jill ("my muse"), with forcing him to maintain a semblance of balance in his life. "Otherwise, I'd probably do nothing but work and write," he says.

Close to Home

No Outward Sign is a story about vigilante hackers, the FBI, and cyberterrorism—that is, terrorist acts aimed at damaging or destroying our electronic infrastructure. The book has gained attention in the last year for its almost spooky prediction of certain events, such as a widespread blackout. It also describes several cyber-attacks that have already occurred in the United States. (All the information about cyberterrorism in the novel comes from the public domain.) As a result of the book's up-to-the-minute feel, Neugent is in great demand as a keynote speaker at events such as the Government Chief Information Officer (CIO) Summit.

Neugent maintains a strict line between his work for our sponsors and his writing. Nevertheless, he believes that talking about issues in a storytelling format is an effective way to communicate fact or fiction.

"The last time I briefed the MITRE security work program to sponsors, I presented the information as a series of short stories," he says. He framed the scenarios in terms of protagonists, challenges, and plots with problems and solutions. "That briefing was a hit with the sponsor," he says. "Each segment showed the passion of our people and their resourcefulness in overcoming difficult challenges.

"When I look at our work program from the perspective of a novelist, I'm struck by the great stories waiting to be told."

—by Alison Stern-Dunyak