Julie Ard

"My first interaction with the IC was in the context of developing and fielding advanced research developed by DARPA. I went on to support several different intelligence agencies’ cyber security research and operations throughout my career."

"I’m a Principal Insider Threat Researcher. I collaborate with several departments and external organizations to ensure that the technology can provide the information vital to our leaders’ decisions on protecting agency assets, including personnel, from internal threats. My typical day includes learning new things, developing technological and policy solutions, and learning how to interact with other stakeholders in order to effectively implement them."

"People of several different affiliations serve the IC, and ensuring that they can work cohesively is an incredible challenge. A serious issue is how IC contractors are impacted by government shutdowns, furloughs, and the reduced manning resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. These cuts in hours cause financial stress for these important contributors to the IC who have access to sensitive information, and financial stress is the biggest cause of insider breaches. So it’s important to consider these issues when implementing new procedures during these extenuating circumstances which are unfortunately becoming more and more common."

Favorite TV Shows: Ozark and Breaking Bad "because they show how normal people get sucked into bad situations. This is the majority of situations that I encounter in my profession as an insider threat leader."