{"id":227985,"date":"2026-06-08T11:27:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T15:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/steve-jacyna-carahsoft-interview-on-new-era-of-cybersecurity\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T12:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:00:13","slug":"steve-jacyna-carahsoft-interview-on-new-era-of-cybersecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/steve-jacyna-carahsoft-interview-on-new-era-of-cybersecurity\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Jacyna Carahsoft Interview on New Era of Cybersecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Jacyna Carahsoft Interview on New Era of Cybersecurity<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.executivebiz.com\/articles\/steve-jacyna-carahsoft-spotlight-cyber-ai-zero-trust<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-06-08 11:27:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.executivebiz.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. Steve Jacyna\u00a0works at the intersection of government cybersecurity priorities and emerging technologies. From zero trust and identity security to AI-driven threats and modernization challenges, the director of innovative cybersecurity solutions\u00a0at\u00a0Carahsoft helps agencies and vendors navigate a rapidly evolving threat landscape.In his latest Spotlight interview with ExecutiveBiz, Jacyna discussed the\u00a0shift from data breaches to mission disruption, how\u00a0AI is reshaping the cyber threat landscape, why agencies are\u00a0doubling down on resilience and zero trust, and the emerging technologies poised to define the next era of cybersecurity.We always love connecting with Jacyna on the latest cybersecurity trends. Be sure to check out our interviews with him from the past few years:And don\u2019t miss Jacyna\u2019s colleague, Mike McCalip, VP of government programs and strategy at Carahsoft, who will moderate a panel session at Potomac Officers Club\u2019s\u00a02026 Army Summit on June 18. The discussion will examine the\u00a0tech stack needed to enable a hyperconnected battlefield and will also feature Army leadership like\u00a0Robert Monto,\u00a0program manager for robotic control and integration; and\u00a0Christopher Manning, the incoming\u00a0capability program executive for intelligence and spectrum warfare.\u00a0Don\u2019t miss this excellent GovCon event!ExecutiveBiz: What are the biggest cybersecurity threats government agencies are focused on right now?Steve Jacyna: Cyber threats are evolving, that\u2019s a given. But we\u2019re also seeing a disturbing shift from data exfiltration to the disruption of missions and operational continuity. Whether it\u2019s healthcare delivery at the Department of Veterans Affairs, transportation safety at the Federal Aviation Administration, or citizen services at the Social Services Administration, threat actors are targeting the systems that keep those operations running \u2014 with potentially devastating impacts.Identity compromise, supply chain vulnerabilities, ransomware and resilience to ransomware also remain major concerns. Agencies are starting to accept that compromise will eventually happen, so the conversation is shifting from \u201cHow do we prevent every breach?\u201d to \u201cHow do we recover quickly and continue the mission?\u201dThere\u2019s also growing concern around AI-driven threats, deepfakes and misinformation.\u00a0AI is making phishing attacks more sophisticated and harder for people to spot. When you layer in threats to critical infrastructure \u2014 pipelines, electrical grids, railways \u2014 the operational implications become very real.The big focus for agencies right now is\u00a0resilience. How do you continue the mission regardless of the attack?EBiz: How is AI changing the cybersecurity environment for government agencies?Jacyna:\u00a0AI is changing both sides of cybersecurity right now. It\u2019s helping organizations strengthen defenses, but it\u2019s also\u00a0making attacks much more sophisticated.We see that clearly in phishing and social engineering. Attackers are now using AI and language models to craft highly personalized, believable messages. Five or six years ago, many phishing attempts were fairly easy to spot. Today,\u00a0some of these attacks are extremely convincing.Deepfakes,\u00a0voice cloning and\u00a0vishing are also concerning. The line between legitimate and manipulated content is getting much harder for people to identify.There\u2019s also a growing discussion about AI systems, such as\u00a0Anthropic\u2019s Claude Mythos, that can identify vulnerabilities faster than organizations can patch them (including some that have gone\u00a0undetected for years). That creates a very different kind of challenge because security teams are already operating in extremely complex environments.The broader conversation now is around\u00a0governance. As agencies adopt more AI and agentic systems, organizations will need stronger controls around what those systems can access and do.\u00a0Companies like Okta are already starting to think about AI agents as identities that require governance, permissions, and access controls.If you look at where the industry is headed, there may eventually be more AI agents interacting with enterprise systems than people. Legacy security models simply won\u2019t be able to manage that effectively.EBiz: Government modernization has been underway for years. What challenges still remain?Jacyna: A lot of agencies are still modernizing on top of decades of legacy infrastructure that continues to support critical missions. That creates a unique challenge for cybersecurity leaders.Most government environments today are\u00a0highly hybridized \u2014 cloud infrastructure, on-prem systems and legacy applications all operating together.\u00a0What works from a security perspective in the cloud doesn\u2019t always translate cleanly to legacy systems.Visibility is another major issue. It\u2019s difficult to secure infrastructure if you don\u2019t fully understand everything that exists across the environment, which makes continuous monitoring extremely important.Patch management also remains a challenge because many legacy systems simply can\u2019t be updated seamlessly. As a result, agencies are managing a complicated mix of security policies, technologies and risk postures.What we\u2019re seeing in response is\u00a0continued investment in\u00a0zero trust architecture,\u00a0microsegmentation,\u00a0continuous monitoring and\u00a0security orchestration platforms that help automate some of those manual processes.\u00a0EBiz: How important is workforce education and cyber awareness today?Jacyna:\u00a0It\u2019s still incredibly important. I always say that people are both the strongest and weakest link within a network.Most attacks today still involve some form of\u00a0social engineering, and AI is making those attacks harder to detect. So cyber hygiene and workforce education remain critical. The agencies doing this well are focusing on continuous training, phishing simulations and role-based education instead of treating cybersecurity awareness as a one-time exercise during onboarding.I also think organizations need to continue elevating the role of cyber operators internally. Technology is obviously important, but at the end of the day, people are still the ones making decisions and responding to threats.EBiz: Are there any emerging cybersecurity companies or technologies you\u2019re watching closely?Steve Jacyna:\u00a0One company that has really caught my attention is\u00a0Doppel. They focus on AI-based threat detection and helping organizations identify sophisticated deepfake and impersonation attacks.That entire category is going to become much more important over the next several years. As AI-generated attacks continue to evolve, organizations will need technologies specifically designed to identify deception and manipulated content at scale.I think we\u2019re still very early in that market, but it\u2019s going to become an area of focus across cybersecurity.EBiz: How has the federal government\u2019s approach to cybersecurity changed under the current administration?Steve Jacyna:\u00a0From what I\u2019m seeing, cybersecurity absolutely remains a priority for government agencies. You see that in the\u00a0spending priorities, the\u00a0RFQs and\u00a0RFPs entering the market, and the continued investment in zero trust and modernization initiatives.I think what\u2019s changed is the visibility around it.\u00a0During the previous administration, there were frequent executive orders and very public conversations around cybersecurity. Today, there seems to be more public emphasis on AI.But those two areas are very connected. The more organizations adopt AI technologies, the more important security and governance become. Strong cybersecurity foundations are essential for successful AI adoption.I invite anyone interested in learning more about the administration\u2019s priorities to join me at the\u00a0SANS 2026 Government Security Forum on July 22 (online). This forum brings together federal, state and local cyber leaders to share how they are strengthening mission readiness, modernizing infrastructure and improving cyber resilience.
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