WHEN THE MACHINES FIGHT BACK; THE NEW OFFENSIVE-DEFENSIVE CYBER WAR

The rules of engagement in cyberspace have changed. Autonomous offensive AI is no longer a theoretical threat horizon; it is an operational reality rewriting the speed, scale, and sophistication of attacks against government networks right now. AI-driven adversaries are scanning, probing, and exploiting vulnerabilities in minutes, not days — faster than any human-speed security operation center can detect, triage, and respond.

In this keynote, David Luber — former Director of Cybersecurity at the National Security Agency — brings a rare, career-forged perspective to one of the most consequential shifts in the history of cyber defense. Drawing on decades at the leading edge of national-level cybersecurity operations, Dave will walk through what autonomous offensive AI actually looks like in the wild: how AI-driven tools are being weaponized to discover vulnerabilities at scale, chain exploits autonomously, and adapt in real time to evade even sophisticated defenses. He will examine what this tectonic shift means for state and local government agencies — most of which were architected to defend against human-paced attackers in a fundamentally different threat era.

But this session doesn't stop at the threat picture. The core of this keynote is practical and actionable: what does a modern AI-augmented defensive posture actually look like, and what can government security leaders do right now? Dave will also share hard-won lessons from a career spanning some of the most consequential moments in U.S. cyber history — offered here for the benefit of the Texas public sector security community.

Attendees will leave with a sharper understanding of the machine-speed battlefield, a clearer view of where defensive gaps exist, and concrete steps for building resilience before the next campaign arrives.

The machines are already fighting. The question is whether your defenses are ready.