Niloo Razi Howe: A Life of Adventure, Purpose & Epic Badassery (Part 2 of 2, Niloo's time in Washington D.C.)

The 2nd half of our conversation with Niloo focuses on her recent work in Washington DC where she holds several positions and recently (October 22nd, 2019) testified to Congress on the United State’s cyber security readiness. We begin with the topic of retaliation: What’s the proper response to a cyber attack if you want to discourage future aggression? Is cyber retaliation necessary to defend a country?

With the 2020 elections on the horizon, Niloo explains her perspective on influence campaigns such as the highly publicized activities by Russia in the ’16 presidential elections. While often seen as election interference, she explains the broader goal of Russia’s strategy as an attack on the fabric of trust throughout a country— and how your phone and social networks can be complicit in this scheme.

We end on a hopeful note: there are plenty of reasons to believe things will be better in the future in cyber security, starting with government restructuring from long outdated WW2 norms to a more modern organization design. And we learn why Niloo may not be your best choice as a new BFF on GoodReads.