Navigating the Deep Tech Industrial Revolution
Overview
In this episode of The Quantum Spin by HKA, host Veronica Combs discusses the intersections of quantum technology and cybersecurity with Chuck Brooks, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and the president of Brooks Consulting International. Chuck discusses how the evolution of technology, particularly AI and quantum computing, has dramatically transformed cybersecurity. The conversation also touches on the role of CISOs, the integration of new technologies, and the importance of ongoing education and adaptation in the face of rapidly changing technologies.
00:00 Introduction to Quantum Spin Podcast
00:34 Guest Introduction: Chuck Brooks
00:46 Chuck Brooks’ Career Journey
02:09 Evolution of Cybersecurity
02:47 Challenges for CISOs
04:27 Quantum Computing and Cybersecurity
07:43 Future of Quantum and AI
10:51 Disruptive Technologies in Organizations
15:15 AI in Academia and Professional Use
17:06 Effective Communication on LinkedIn
18:23 Conclusion and Podcast Information
Chuck Brooks serves as President of Brooks Consulting International with over 25 years of experience in cybersecurity, emerging technologies, marketing, business development, and government relations. He also is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University in the Cyber Risk Management Program, where he teaches graduate courses on risk management, homeland security, and cybersecurity.
As a thought leader, blogger, and event speaker, he has briefed the G20 on energy cybersecurity, He has been a leading voice in risk management keynoting dozens of global conferences and writing over 450 articles relating to technologies and cybersecurity. He is also the author of two books on cybersecurity.
In his career, Chuck has received presidential appointments for executive service by two U.S. presidents and served as the first Director of Legislative Affairs at the DHS Science & Technology Directorate.
Transcript
[00:00:00] Veronica: Hello, and welcome to The Quantum Spin by HKA. I’m Veronica Combs. I’m a writer and an editor here at the agency. I get to talk every day with really smart people working on really fascinating subjects, everything in the Quantum industry, from hardware to software. On our podcast, we focus in on quantum communication, and by that I don’t mean making networks safe from hacking or entangling photons over long distance, but talking about the technology.
[00:00:26] How do you explain these complicated concepts to people who don’t have a background in science and engineering but want to understand all the same?
[00:00:34] Today I am talking with Chuck Brooks. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and the president of Brooks Consulting International. Thanks for joining us today, Chuck.
[00:00:44] Chuck: Thank you for having me on. Appreciate it.
[00:00:46] Veronica: So you studied foreign affairs and political science, but you have been working in cybersecurity for some time now.
[00:00:53] How did you get where you are today?
[00:00:55] Chuck: That’s a good question. When I studied back then we didn’t have computers or mobile phones. Yes. So life was a little bit different.
[00:01:02] so cybersecurity wasn’t around, but, when I did go to grad school at University of Chicago, I did study strategic studies in international relations and, and that really got me interested in technology because I was looking at mostly military technologies.
[00:01:16] So I came out to Washington, DC and I ran into a former head of DIA and deputy director of the CIA at a party. He invited me to come work with him. And it was on Strategic Defense Initiative, so it was military space stuff and missiles, et cetera.
[00:01:30] And I got really involved in the whole technology world. It led me to working at Voice of America. Then 10 years on the Hill doing security and technology issues with late Senator Arlen Specter. And then my, my real start with cyber was at Department of Homeland Security, DHS
[00:01:45] Veronica: Oh.
[00:01:46] Chuck: ] Where I was in the Science and Technology directorate. And I was one of the, first people hired by DHS. Wow. It helped set up the plants and technology directorate and, and cyber was part of the portfolio, although again, it was only back in 2004. It was early and it isn’t anything like now, but it really intrigued me back then and.
[00:02:05] This and other technologies I’ve been deep in ever since.
[00:02:08] Veronica: Wow. So you’ve really seen the threat landscape grow and change and you were in on the ground floor with some of these technologies I’m sure.
[00:02:16] Chuck: Yeah, it’s really morphed. When, after 9/11, of course, with Chemical Biological Nuclear Radiation, we were all focused on counter-terrorism.
[00:02:23] But the whole era of digital came very quickly, and it was built without security in mind and expanded to everything in commerce and government. And so since then, cyber has been the world. And now of course, AI and quantum are also joining that emerging technology that are basically changing the way we live and work.
[00:02:44] Veronica: Yes, yes. Once again, it’s all changing. So I used to cover cybersecurity for a couple online publications and it just seemed like an overwhelming job to be a CISO or to be in charge of any kind of cybersecurity. So how do you help CISOs identify the most crucial tasks in the short term even?
[00:03:01] Nevermind the long term.
[00:03:02] Chuck: Yeah. You know it, that’s a great question. CISO actually is a relatively new term. Mm-hmm. When you look at, because a security officer before that, CSO, but the CISO’s really with information technology and it’s evolved. Initially it was pretty much an IT position, just fix this, fix that.
[00:03:20] And when cyber started happening, when people started getting their, their data stolen and their finances corrupted and everything else, that evolved into a different kind of role. It’s been evolved actually recently into the C-Suite because companies are now seeing that if you’re hit with a cyber attack, your viability is challenged.
[00:03:37] Your reputation might be harmed. And a lot of financial issues too, sometimes millions of dollars. So the CISO has been elevated. Now the elevated role also comes with a lot of issues because often in companies, it’s not the CISO that has the budget, it’s the CIO and so they have to basically say, I need the latest, greatest, and they have to keep up on all the new technology and the threats. And the threats
[00:03:59] have changed so much, so rapidly in the last couple years because of AI that they’re basically got their hands full and it’s been a lot of burnout and I, I don’t envy the role, but in my advisory role, I look at just like you would anything else, risk management, where the network’s most vulnerable, who’s likely to target, what technologies would help them?
[00:04:21] What organizational changes do they need to make? It’s all risk management basically, but it’s on a fast track.
[00:04:27] Veronica: Yes. So how do you think about quantum in terms of cybersecurity?
[00:04:32] Chuck: It’s really not necessarily the cybersecurity element, it’s the ability to decrypt everything that’s out there. And a lot of data has been taken and a lot of information has been taken, and you have to have the right encryption right now. It’s a standard encryption that we’ve been using for RSA for many years.
[00:04:48] Quantum will be able to break that and they’ll break every encryption. The fact is that quantum computing will give a superpower to whoever has it.
[00:04:54] And the threats then could be augmented. So if you’re using AI, you could use it even to do greater threat by having it synthesize all the vulnerabilities in the network and endpoints, et cetera, where you know, identify them and, and launch an attack. So it’s really, It’s going to be the combination of AI and quantum that are going to really pose significant threats to the cybersecurity establishment.
[00:05:16] On the other hand though, there’s always two sides to the coin. Artificial intelligence right now, although it’s being used obviously by adversaries for deep fakes and a lot of phishing attacks. It can be used by defenders, you know, to basically threat intelligence and identify threats.
[00:05:31] You can look for weaknesses in your own network and identify them, you fix them. Automatic patching. And then more important, I think for people in cyber that they’re so shorthanded, then it can write reports and do analysis of what happens when there is an incident. And so that could take days for one person to do.
[00:05:47] It takes minutes for AI to do. But so there, there’s a good and bad for technology. It’s really just a tool, but we’re in very precarious times because there’s so many targets.
[00:05:56] Veronica: Right, right. I remember I emailed maybe 30 hospitals back when I was a reporter, and this was several years ago.
[00:06:03] Asking for what’s your policy on ransomware attacks? And I don’t think they didn’t even bother to say no comment. I sort of understood, but it really illustrated for me that this is a problem
[00:06:14] Chuck: There’s a lot of vulnerabilities there. And the hackers know it, and they know there’s money there.
[00:06:18] Veronica: I’ve read a lot about hack now, decrypt later.
[00:06:21] So you harvest the data and then you wait to be able to break the encryption. Is that information just lost to organizations?
[00:06:28] Chuck: A lot of it is IP but it’s even, it is even more than that. There’s a lot of, they took security clearances, everything, mostly China. They’ve been collecting everything. And it’s geopolitical strategies.
[00:06:38] Mm-hmm. It’s inside information on companies. It is a lot of IP, a huge amount of IP. But you’re right, what you’re talking about is the Q day, which would happen when someone gets a major quantum capability to be able to decrypt all that data.
[00:06:53] Now the thing is that the quantum is not just a one shot deal where everyone’s going to get those, that superpower and have a supercomputer. It’s already being used right now. Photonics is quantum. Mm-hmm. There’s other types of quantum being used for algorithms and stuff now too. So it’s really in its early nascent stages.
[00:07:09] And there’s a lot of interesting companies, mostly small ones that are working on these technologies. So you’re going to see a lot of sensors, quantum sensors, you’re going to see it applied conjunctively with artificial intelligence. So quantum’s going to have a major impact on the economy.
[00:07:23] And it’s going to have a major impact on security and, and particularly I think, on sensing, global sensing, particularly with satellites in space.
[00:07:29] Veronica: Yes, with a lot of the GPS denial problems that certain regions of the world are seeing it, we definitely need some kind of backup system. It’s exciting to see that work.
[00:07:38] Chuck: Yes, yes. We live in interesting times.
[00:07:42] Veronica: It’s true. It’s true. Speaking of Q Day, I’ve heard 2030 from a few different sources, analysts, government companies. What do you think about that timeline?
[00:07:53] Chuck: It’s possible. I think no one really knows. Yeah, there’s countries all over the globe working on this.
[00:07:59] It doesn’t necessarily have to be the thousand qubit computer to do it. But it’s happening fast and every day there’s a breakthrough. But that’s, you know, 5, 5, 10 years ago they were saying it’d be 2050. So it is moving up the timeline and we’re using AI to discover stuff for quantum too.
[00:08:14] So I think it’s a reasonable prediction. And the government, like I said, has noticed it, and they’re requiring quantum resistant algorithms already for, for vendors that work at DOD in, in most places now that have any kind of security clearance. They’re aware of it and they’re saying by 2035 you have to have those clearances.
[00:08:31] So I think, I think it’s a reasonable timeline.
[00:08:33] Veronica: You’ve described risk as threat times vulnerability times consequence, and I’ve heard folks say that there transition to post quantum cryptography is the biggest IT upgrade in history.
[00:08:46] Encryption is, I don’t know, like electricity or water, it’s such a fundamental building block. How do you get people to wrap their minds around that kind of transition?
[00:08:55] Chuck: It’s difficult. I remember we had the experience, Y2K, and everyone was panicking at once and nothing really bad happened except I was locked out of my hotel that night.
[00:09:03] All, all the locks changed and no one could get into the hotel rooms, but, I think with quantum, people don’t quite understand it yet, and I think we’re moving so fast into this emerging technology world where we’re replacing the physical of the digital and we’re emerging at actually more than anything.
[00:09:18] And quantum is starting to take notice. It’s looking at, a lot of the stocks now are, I know, probably overvalued for what they are now, but not where they’re potential. It’s what it is, like where AI was a few years ago before generative AI came out and Agent AI. So I think all these newer technologies and you add 5G to it in IoT you’re really, really changing the whole landscape of the world.
[00:09:41] So I think it’s important for people to understand that. I wrote a book recently on that “Inside Cyber,” why they should do that and try to put it in layman terms. People should be because it’s, it’s going to change the way we, we operate and it already is starting to, and it also affects our privacy. We will have no privacy.
[00:09:57] Some people say, we don’t now, but we’ll have no privacy because everything you’ve written or said or do is either being listened to or, or copied. You’re really, you’re really in a, in a predicament if you don’t understand the implications of, of these technologies, particularly AI and quantum.
[00:10:12] Veronica: There’s a book series called Murderbot by Martha Wells and Murderbot is a basically a cyborg that does security,.
[00:10:19] And it always talks about how part of the company’s, business model is to mine every conversation and to track everything that happens. And I thought, oh yeah, that’s something to worry about in the future. I thought, oh no, that’s happening now. It’s, it’s not the future, it’s right now.
[00:10:34] Chuck: So you’re seeing on the world scale, everything is changing so fast that, you know, I think you’re right about, people need to really wake up and say, Hey, this is not the same
[00:10:43] world that it was a decade ago and it’s going to not going to be the same world a decade ahead than it’s now.
[00:10:50] Veronica: Right, right. So as I mentioned, you are an adjunct professor at Georgetown and you developed a course called Disruptive Technologies and Organizational Management and I’ve found that
[00:11:01] changing a company’s culture to incorporate new technology, or just a different way of doing things. That’s one of the biggest barriers to innovation, at least in my experience. Do you find that to be a factor as well?
[00:11:11] Chuck: Yeah, it, it is really all about change.
[00:11:14] But it’s also about the company absorbing the strategies and, and planning. And you’re seeing a sort of a, a reluctance on a lot of them. They sometimes they say, oh, AI, let’s, let’s buy it. Let’s get it. But they have no strategy or, or knowledge of how to use it.
[00:11:28] A lot of my students are government and already working in the private sector, the graduate students. So they’re seeing it now that the companies are looking for a combination of people that have some technical knowledge, but also the soft skills to understand
[00:11:40] what is happening and why we have to adapt our communication among these technologies and also do our planning you know, to see where the vulnerabilities are, where the benefits are. We’re introducing a lot to the ecosystem, but we don’t understand the implications.
[00:11:54] Agentic AI is a good example of that. Generally AI was the everything for the last year or two, and all of a sudden, agentic AI works without prompts. So the landscape changes so quickly and we don’t know what’s ahead.
[00:12:05] Veronica: Right, right.
[00:12:06] I was talking with a colleague who said well, I thought AI and quantum were going to be good for cybersecurity. As you mentioned, help, help strengthen the defenses. And I said it really is the two sides of the same coin. It, it can help, but it can also be something powerful that you have to worry about as well.
[00:12:21] Being used against you,
[00:12:22] Chuck: Exactly. And, and the problem though is, the hackers always have asymmetrical advantage because they could go after thousands of targets. They’re usually hidden.
[00:12:31] You’re seeing it attack against critical infrastructures.
[00:12:33] So those are, those are very vulnerable, water systems, everything else. The implications of that could be very severe if you take out you know, health centers and financial transportation, water. It’s not a game, it is something that we have to really look at seriously when we’re protecting.
[00:12:47] Veronica: Right, right. Is there more of a top down approach that you would like to see that would be effective?
[00:12:53] Chuck: one of the problems with technology is, is that the people who make the laws don’t understand it. We used to have an office of technology commercialization and they got rid of it. Oh, thought they knew everything, you know, already.
[00:13:06] Veronica: Oh my goodness. Yeah.
[00:13:07] Chuck: Legislators need to know how to, to create the right laws and parameters for our uses of these technologies.
[00:13:13] And I think that’s problematic. And as consumers, anyone out there has the ability to learn. And you, you do have social media. You have the internet, you have generative AI. A lot of this stuff now comes right to you.
[00:13:26] You don’t have to go out and research. It’ll come right to you. So I think it’s imperative that the people try and understand artificial intelligence, quantum, and, and basically how the economies and the way we work and live are changing to be able to adapt, to make themselves relevant.
[00:13:41] It’s just like any other industrial revolution. This one is a little bit more severe because it’s so much more connected globally, and so much faster.
[00:13:50] We have to deal with these realities.
[00:13:51] Veronica: So a lot of our clients work with various governments around the world. Most western governments have some kind of quantum strategy, some more developed than others. Do you have any advice for working with the government?
[00:14:03] Chuck: It’s always important to find someone that could be a voice for you if you have an association or if your corporation, obviously you’re a constituent to two senators and one congressman, so I use those outlets obviously to, to, educate them if you can, if if you’re adept in, in quantum. But I think there is in, in the last, this administration, the one previous, they’ve recognized quantum and before that there was a quantum initiative by the Trump two administrations ago. Quantum is, is now. On the scene.
[00:14:31] And DOD has already been doing this, and DARPA has been doing this. The intelligence community has been doing it, so government has recognized it and they’ve upped the funding.
[00:14:38] And, and you see these mega companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, Google, all going into that area. And with quantum, they’re all touching it now too. They’re all looking where they could, would go.
[00:14:49] Veronica: You mentioned AI. I read that same report. Big companies are saying, let’s do this, but then maybe don’t have the, quite the thoughtful approach of figuring out how to implement AI. I read also that some of the smaller gaming companies, they understand where some of this automation and some of this testing can fit into their workflow.
[00:15:08] So it’s, it’s easier for smaller companies to implement AI potentially. It’s such a broad term. I hate to use such a generic, label. But I’m curious how you use AI in your own work. .
[00:15:17] Chuck: I look at AI as a tool, you know, I think the benefit of it, and even agentic AI is going to be the human AI interaction. You know, humans need to be in the loop. I use it for research now. I want to know what’s current what all developments are happening, whether it’s quantum, AI, any topic that I write about.
[00:15:33] I write for Forbes a lot. And, my course has to keep changing because of the technology’s changing so fast. So I have to, keeping track of all developments and AI has been really good with keeping me abreast of that and summarizing it. because you don’t have. Time to read 20 books, but you have time to, to read 20 summaries of books.
[00:15:48] Right. And so that’s, that’s what AI is very valuable for. , I write a lot and I’ve taken some of my old writing Hmm. And I’ve updated it with AI Wow. I don’t like to use AI to create new, as an author, I want to use my own thoughts. Just Okay,
[00:16:02] reword them. Add to them. That I find okay doing it, and I tell my students too, I understand you’re using generative AI to, to help write a lot of the answers and discussions and stuff. It’s obvious with someone, but it’s okay if you, tell me you’re using it and you also put your own thoughts into it, in your own analysis.
[00:16:19] So I mean, I think it’s just the, the way things are going to happen in academics and in schools right now. Particularly with the graduate level ones, it’s a question of really synthesizing the data and AI is a good tool for it. There’s no doubt about it.
[00:16:32] But there, there are problems too. It’s only as good as, the large language model that uses
[00:16:37] Veronica: Right. Right. Yes. And, and,
[00:16:38] Chuck: There’s a lot of hallucinations and other things that are going on too. So I think, but, but the fact that they’re using it is good because everyone’s going to be using it in four or five years.
[00:16:47] Right. It’s not going to be an option.
[00:16:49] Veronica: Right, right. I was talking with a doctor and we were talking about that synopsis that way to use AI, because like you said, doctors also can’t read the hundreds of papers that come out every year. Yes. But you can synopsize a few and get, at least get the important points out and have it for future reference.
[00:17:04] So, I wanted to ask you one last question. You have a significant following on LinkedIn. I think 120 some thousand people follow your post. I think
[00:17:11] Chuck: it’s 126,000. Yeah.
[00:17:13] Veronica: What are your strategies for communicating with people and getting your point across and, and being engaging in that platform?
[00:17:19] Chuck: That’s a good question. I, I’m a real fan of LinkedIn. When I was working at DHS actually, because I, I looked at the bios of the people I meeting, where they went to school, so I thought, hey, this is a great intelligence tool for business.
[00:17:28] It’s evolved significantly since then. You know, there’s hundreds of millions of people on it now, and anyone even, if you’re even working in the CIA, they, they list it there too. I tell people be relevant.
[00:17:37] I tell all my students, they should publish their own articles. Mm-hmm. I think it’s a living resume for a lot of these people early in the job market. They should share people that they like the stuff. Share it and find the thought leaders out there in whatever area you’re interested in, and follow them and read their stuff because you’ll learn a lot.
[00:17:55] I read all of my colleagues stuff. We all read each other’s stuff and share each other’s stuff. And I think that’s why it’s grown so quickly is, and also the conferences and speaking people in podcasts like this, people tend to follow you.
[00:18:07] Right. So it’s a great medium. I created 10 groups on it too. Hmm. Two of them cybersecurity related, but also emerging technologies related. Hmm. Thought leadership related , and one called DC Foodies because I’m a foodie.
[00:18:19] So it is a fun place to, to really to, to delve in.
[00:18:23] Veronica: Well, Thank you so much for taking time to talk with us today. I really appreciate it.
[00:18:26] Chuck: Oh, my pleasure. And thanks for having me on.
Host Veronica Combs is a quantum tech editor, writer and PR professional. She manages public relations for quantum computing and tech clients as an account manager with HKA Marketing Communications, the #1 agency in quantum tech PR. You can find them on X, formerly known as Twitter, @HKA_PR. Veronica joined HKA from TechRepublic, where she was a senior writer. She has covered technology, healthcare and business strategy for more than 10 years. If you’d like to be on the podcast yourself, you can reach her on LinkedIn, Veronica Combs, or you can go to the HKA website and share your suggestion via the Contact Us page.
November 25, 2025
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