Collaboration Helps Sponsors Address Data Security Challenges
Rosalie McQuaid
February 2010
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Rosalie McQuaid |
The technologies that keep government and military communications networks secure have altered exponentially over the 25 years since Rosalie McQuaid first started at MITRE. McQuaid, who is a principal information security engineer, says the challenges facing our sponsors are evolving as well—but MITRE's commitment to finding creative ways to safeguard critical data remains unchanged.
"There are so many elements to consider in any information assurance problem," she says. "To me, the fun part has always been starting with an idea, getting a bunch of people in a room, and figuring out the solution."
As associate department head of a diverse team of information security engineers, McQuaid divides her time between projects for the Air Force and other DoD sponsors, research work, and the co-management of a department of about 43 staff. Her team focuses on cybersecurity, information systems security engineering, security risk management, and related programs for MITRE's military and government sponsors. She describes all her work as highly collaborative, and says it's especially gratifying to work closely with sponsors on issues having a real impact on critical initiatives.
"My job gives me the opportunity to be exposed to some of the incredible work our sponsors are doing and to help that work proceed regardless of the obstacles in the way," she says.
Helping the Air Force Keep Critical Data Safe
One such emerging obstacle is the threat of cyber-warfare attacks and similar security breaches affecting military and government networks. Through one of McQuaid's research projects, Mission Aware Reporting of Information Assurance for Airborne Networks, or MARIAAN, she and her colleagues have developed a prototype security solution that helps the Air Force to fuse relevant mission information with details about security breaches as they occur.
The MARIAAN software and sensor prototype delivers data security alerts to warfighters in tactical environments, enabling them to more easily respond to hacking attacks and other similar events in real time. For McQuaid, the successful development and ongoing testing of the prototype, in close collaboration with Air Force experts, illustrates what can be accomplished by a team that works together "without any agenda beyond helping our sponsors address their issues."
"I like the fact that as team leaders at MITRE, we can gently lead," she says. "We run the team as a democracy, and this collaboration allows all the team members to make their ideal contribution." The end results, as in the case of the MARIAAN prototype, include technologies and practices that deliver tangible results to sponsors, she explains. And the conversation doesn't end with the delivery of the prototype. "We continue to work closely with the sponsor, so we learn a lot from what emerges as the prototype is tested," she adds.
Learning on the Job
Although MITRE is only the second employer of McQuaid's career, she says she's still learning on the job—even after 25 years. "One of the best things about working at MITRE is that regardless of what stage you're at in your career, you're encouraged to keep learning and to do what you really love doing," she says.
After graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, McQuaid briefly worked in quality assurance in the private sector before following in the footsteps of her father, Dwight Brown, who spent many years as a systems engineer at MITRE before retiring in 1988.
Her first job at MITRE was in local area networking for the Air Force Logistics Command. After spending several years designing network architectures and network security solutions for multiple sponsors, and with support from her management team, she was able to pursue a new interest: information security. "I look at what I do now as the best of all worlds," she says, noting her time is evenly divided between management, research, and sponsor work.
"Working with great people is one of the best perks of the job."
—by Maria S. Lee
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