Video

USPTO's Tech Vision: Cloud Adoption With New Security Mindset

Several years ago, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO, was plagued by an unprecedented eleven-day outage, during which none of its over 9,000 examiners were able to perform their duties. This event marked a turning point for Jamie Holcombe, CIO of USPTO, who sought to transform the organization's technology infrastructure. He aimed to create a robust and resilient operation through the adoption of agile, DevSecOps-based architecture. The vision included a cloud migration plan that classified applications based on their level of criticality.

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With the growing prevalence of multi-cloud environments, Holcombe believes that the traditional "castle-and-moat" security approach is no longer adequate. Instead, he is focused on maturing the organization's security posture through the implementation of a zero trust architecture, with an emphasis on data classification and API security.

"It is time for us to embrace a more mature approach to cybersecurity," Holcombe says. "The five pillars of a zero trust architecture are essential for ensuring the security of our operations, and it all starts with properly classifying our data."

In a video interview with Information Security Media Group, Holcombe discusses:

• The importance of culture in technology vision;
• How to move from a project to a product mindset for operational resiliency;
• Making cybersecurity more suitable for growing cloud and API footprint.

In his role as CIO, Holcombe serves as the principal advisor to the agency on the design, development and management of its information systems and technology. Most recently, he served as the CEO of Visium Technologies, a cybersecurity startup. He began his career as an officer in the U.S. Army, where he served as a company commander in the 1116th Signal Battalion.