Archives: Articles

From the Spring 2026 Issue

Stewards of Mission Risk: The Evolving Role of the Authorizing Officials (AO)

Author(s):

Bobbie Stempfley, ,

Dr. Ray A. Letteer, DSc, Former Director, Operations Risk Assessment, Office of the DoD Chief Information Officer Former CISO/Authorizing Official (AO), United States Marine Corps

Henry J. Sienkiewicz, Adjunct Faculty, Former CIO, DISA, Georgetown and George Washington Universities

Introduction In a harsh misrepresentation, organizational Authorizing Officials (AO) are often thought of as an obstacle or simply a bureaucratic signature – a roadblock to progress. Reality intrudes. Reality should intrude. The reality is that … Read more

From the Spring 2026 Issue

Implementing CMMC in CNC-Based DIB Machine Shops: The Convergence of NQA-1 and Cybersecurity Governance Following the Segmented Cyber-Quality Integration Model

Author(s):

Greg Isaak Voykhansky, J.D., Ph.D., Founder CEO, To Your Success Education (TYSED), LLC.

The Problem: Regulatory Convergence Without Architectural Alignment CNC-based shops serving commercial nuclear and government defense sectors encounter converging regulations when naval nuclear propulsion is involved. Contracts often warn that part failure could cause catastrophic nuclear … Read more

From the Winter 2026 Issue

From the Publisher

Author(s):

Karen Austin, CEO, United States Cybersecurity Magazine

Greetings! Welcome to the Winter 2026 issue of United States Cybersecurity Magazine!  As always, we extend our gratitude to our sponsors, contributors, and readers who make this publication possible. Your commitment to advancing cybersecurity ensures … Read more

From the Winter 2026 Issue

Agentic Threat-Informed Defense for Secure Operational Control (TIDSOC): An Imperative

Author(s):

Alessandro Azzaro, Independent Writer,

Zaki Mohammed, Cybersecurity Researcher, PromAItheon ICSec, Inc.

Introduction The trajectory of urban development is increasingly characterised by a transition from smart automation towards operational autonomy (Cugurullo, 2020). The operational backbone of modern society—spanning energy grids, water treatment facilities, power grids, manufacturing plants … Read more

From the Winter 2026 Issue

The ATO Bottleneck: Rethinking Responsibility and Enabling Automation

Author(s):

Dr. Ray A. Letteer, DSc, Former Director, Operations Risk Assessment, Office of the DoD Chief Information Officer Former CISO/Authorizing Official (AO), United States Marine Corps

Henry J. Sienkiewicz, Adjunct Faculty, Former CIO, DISA, Georgetown and George Washington Universities

The pace of the Authorization to Operate (ATO) process has long been a source of frustration and lost productivity. Technology can only make a difference if it is deployed. Yet, the pace is rarely the … Read more