Cybersecurity and campaigns. Host and now on the communicators, we want to introduce you to matt lira. What do you do for a living . Guest i am a Senior Adviser to the House Majority leader, ken mccarthy, which is a fancy way of saying i help em him with communication and trying to modernize the federal government. Host and whats your background for that position . Guest so my career has been at the crosssection of the sort of tech and the private sector, capitol hill but particularly in leadership, or leadership offices and in the political space. So i like to say theres this venn diagram of winning campaigns, trying to, you know, improve government and getting some tech jobs every now and again. Thats how i landed where im at. Host so whats your training . Guest well, i was i trained in computer science, kind of old school coding. I was actually i dont want to be too in the weeds, but i was pretty good at action script which is a totally defunct language now. [laughter] and also in doing kind of communications marketing. So ive always been pulled between those two worlds. Host before we get into why youre here at the state of the net conference, how important today is tech to a campaign . Guest well, i think its become a core competency. Much like it touches every aspect of the campaign. I cannot stress enough how important it is to winning an election. And, obviously, the higher stakes the election gets, the more important that becomes. So in the previous cycle, 2014 cycle, i was the deputy executive director of the National Republican senatorial committee, and one of our primary focuses was making sure that the Republican Senate campaigns that cycle were doing things like this well. And then our successors in the 2016 cycle continued that, and senator gardner has now started this, and he probably ran not probably, he ran the most Sophisticated Campaign in 2016 host Corey Gardner of colorado. Guest right. Theyre now all at the nrc. One, i think hes an incredible senator, but also because technology has become much like in the private marketplace foundational to how you sucking seed in a cam succeed in a campaign. Host when we read or hear that somebody is crunching the numbers, what does that mean . Guest in that context, probably that theyre using data to have greater Situational Awareness over where voters are and what theyre likely to do on election day or really during the election surgeons general because with early voting and absentee, its no longer really one day, but a couple week window. And its possible now with technology and sort of data algorithms and etc. To get a sense in realtime or close to realtime where voters are, their likely hood of supporting your candidate or your opponent and their likelihood to vote. And you kind of put those two data points together, and you have a general picture of how the election is going to go. At least if youre doing it well. Host well, what do you look at when you look at a voter . Do you look at someones facebook page, or is that pretty guest is so it depends on the campaign, the level of sophistication. The more advanced levels its possible to use a very long list of data points to analyze both social activity, also access to consumer marketing information. Some of these trends go all the way back to 04s sort of microtargetting. Now you can think of the decadeplus amount of fest case that has been created that is now available to campaigns. Theres always kind of a space race between the democrats and the republicans over whos got the edge over these kinds of tools and that will, i think, continue for some time. And at times weve had the edge, and at times theyve had the edge, and its really about how many how can i put data points together to give me a more accurate picture of where voters are. The primary data point, of course, is always firstperson contact and leveraging all the data that you gather as a campaign. You think about all the call centers, all the door knocking, the online surveys and the rest and using that data in a centralized way and layering to say if this is true for them and look at other data points that are available to them, what does that say about where other people are. At the president ial level, i think that some of the both the democrats and republicans are doing that at a level of sophistication that is at least equal to what you see in the marketplace. And at the statewide level, i think its more sophisticated than its ever been but, obviously, you cant rest on your laurels. Host how significant is microtargetting . Guest so, well, i think its a slightly outdated concept personally because that was about building tranches of voters using the technology that, you know, helped elect george w. Bush to his second term whereas today i think its much more, its much its not, it is more possible to use it as an individual level, and not in a spooky like i know about you way, but to identify voters in places that would never have been captured before. Let me give you an example. So in virginia, you know, there are, lets say theres a county that is overwhelmingly democratic. And theres historically been no republican turnout efforts there, probably not republican candidates and this is true, by the way, vice versa. So it works either way. And so as a result, theres actually a lot of low hanging fruit for a statewide election because, okay, there might be 10 republicans there, but they dent vote pause they think it doesnt matter or theyve never been activated, and actually figuring out who they are and i think this is something that both sides have been pretty good at. I know it was important in the last Gubernatorial Race in virginia and likely next year as well. Say, okay, i know im going to lose if im a republican, but if theres that 10, 15, 20 republican there, how about i get them to vote, because it gives a statewide total that matters. Things like that can really matter, and thats a distinction between sort of traditional microtargetting of, like, gun other thans who like to snowboard and who that 10 in arlington that support me or that 10 in southwest virginia who might vote for a democrat. Host one of the buzz terms we use a lot today is big data. How does that fit in . Guest that powers everything. It can be overplayed, but the data is the most valuable asset you have. Especially that First Party Data that youve gathered as a campaign, but also any other, you know, the legacy data that exists from previous campaigns. I know this was something that was very important to the rnc over the last couple cycles as a result of the 2012 election and, you know, if someone volunteered, for example, in a race a cycle ago, knowing who that person is, theyre more likely to volunteer this cycle, etc. And its a big part of what i know firms do on the left as well. So theres that arms race over gathering more information but also using it in a more intelligent, sophisticated way. Host is that for sale on the market somewhere . Everybodys big data . Guest well, the voter list is public in most places, but the, like, the kinds of volunteer data and stuff is usually pretty proprietary to the political parties. And there are exceptions, obviously. I mean, the stuffs that is more available in the marketplace is the consumer marketing databases which power a lot of ecommerce transactions and, you know, targeting facebook ads with increasing levels of sophistication and even things like, you know, one of my favorite analogies is the auto industry. Im not an expert in this by any means, but what ive been told is from that moment of interest when you kind of see an ad or you kind of, your windshield wiper breaks, maybe i need a new car, the auto dealers essentially have three months to get you to buy a car statistically. So when they they spend a lot of time, energy, resources figuring out, okay, whos in that zone, and lets get them to buy the car. And if you show any kind of hint of an interest, go to cars. Com for one day, you will see auto ads for about three months everywhere you go. Thats an example. In a campaign, we dont have a threemonth window, we have an election day, maybe early voting, absentee, the concepts are similar. So, you know, theres a lot of commercial data points that can be useful to augment the data that you have, but its a space race. Laugh. Host so, matt lear rah, how does that translate into your current job . Matt lira. Guest so at a foundational level, at a fundamental level its broader in the sense that technologys disrupting every sector of our economy, you know . Entertainment, news, banking, transportation. I mean, i challenge anyone to think of a sector that hasnt been impacted in the last decade in particular. And yet government is woefully behind in that area. And this is more than sort of a surface window dress problem, this is creating a disconnect between the way we live our lives, sort of this on demand, efficient, you know, 24 7 world where we can, you know, watch web videos from egypt on our smartphones while were at 35,000 feet, you know, and the way the government works. And that disconnect is getting wide e and its creating a lot of frustration. As i look to how do i leverage what ive learned from both Tech Experience but also campaigns, its how do we apply technology to make government work better which, by the way, also has typically the side effect of working more efficiently, therefore, saving money at the same time. The ultimate policy nobrainer, in my view, and its the view of my boss. We provide Better Services for lower cost. And it isnt necessarily because were geniuses [laughter] its because the disruption by technology is so fundamentally challenging our entire economy. And government has no choice but to reflect that reality, and it will. Weve been through this. I mean, i dont think weve ever been through it quite at this scale, but our democracy was created in an agrarian society. And it, its survived and thrived and, in fact, i would argue in a lot of ways improved upon itself as we went into an industrial society. And we are at that same kind of Inflection Point today between sort of an industrial economy and maybe an information economy, however you want to phrase it, that creates an amazing opportunity to not just survive as a democracy, but to create, you know, a more perfect union. You think about the medium of television and the amazing role it has plaid, will play and will continue to play and, obviously, forms like cspan in providing ownership over our Public Institutions. Imagine what interactive technologies can bring to that table. Where youre not just watching these debates, but you could be a part of them. So thats my day job. [laughter] host are there a different set of rules for government than there are for campaigns . Guest absolutely. Host and business . Guest you know, rightly so. The government is a Public Institution is which can be a challenge sometimes, and some of those rules, i think, need to be modernized and changed to enable some you think about Something Like the paperwork reduction act which was last passed in, you know, the 80s before most of this technology was on the scene. It is now actually having the perverse effect of actually insuring its like the paperwork protection act in some ways because of the change in technology. So there are examples like that. Ecpa reform, privacy roadway form had reform had passed the house last year, and the last time it had been reformed, top gun was the number one movie. Any law that deals with technology that it can, you know, where its present day, that applies to the bill as well, it needs to be reformed. So the rules are different. Some of those rules need to change, but i think the opportunity in some ways is i dont want to say greater because i think opportunities are huge everywhere, but in some ways can be really impactful. Like, i look back to those guys that were the folks who started, you know, in the 50s kind of figuring out, tinkering with tv, and i read a great article once about kind of how they did it. And, essentially, they were like these kids in this corner of the room, oh, like, were the serious grownups, and were going to deal with the newspaper endorsements and the traditional, you know, city buses, and you guys just play with this tv thing over here. And, of course, like those guys not only became central to winning campaigns, but they went on to create things like 60 minutes and other things in the marketplace and in the information space. So you could see kind of a similar evolution in terms of Digital Technology in politics and now coming into government where, you know, maybe 510 years ago it was like, well, okay, were doing tv ads, the old school stuff. You guys play with this new toy over here. And its becoming increasingly central. Every cycle, you know, the people that do it become more and more important to a campaign. And its not the only thing, but its kind of taking on a maturity, and i think that it reflects the reality of where the tech is. Host new administration, Republican House and senate. Guest yeah. Host what do you see happening in this venue . Guest so, obviously, tremendous opportunity. You know, the first point id like to make, i think, is when it comes to tech policy, its been quite consciously so a very bipartisan, collaborative area even during the most partisan times of the last eight years. The leader, leader mccarthy has worked very closely with people like steny hoyer the make sure that these bills are consensusdriven. We dont always do that on every bill, of course, but theres an overwhelming number. Last year through the innovation initiative, we passed 35 bills in less than six months. The average bill had over 380 votes in favor. And these bills then are going on to become law. In fact, the last bill president obama signed, the talent act which i believe he signed it 11 07 a. M. Friday, doesnt cut it much closer, was the innovation bill. So putting that there as, you know, before you even get to the context of the political alignment, there is Energy Whenever you have a new administration and a new congress to do things, and this is a con consensusdriven area,d i think it will continue to be one. So were going to see a lot of progress. You know, that said, when you take out some of the thornier issues and think about this party alignment, hopefully, it will create the opportunity to do some more structural changes that will be beneficial for our system and our democracy and the rest. Host where does privacy land in your guest so it is, its like one of those Great American debates, and i think it will continue. The technology has raised new questions about old, an old value debate. And that is certainly something that has been on the topic of our entire conference, the entire congress, and i know the new administration because there are legitimate crosspressures and important determinations that need to be made. I think whats important i think for a lot of the people in this discussion is making sure that we are aware that we are setting precedents that will continue to exist into this digital future. And so as much we want to be, you know, we want to make sure and be very thoughtful and sensitive to the fact that we are setting a precedent that lasts. You look back to the founding generation and what by no means perfect, but one of the things that were at least giving them credit for now is they were very thoughtful about the precedents they were setting, and i think were at another moment like that. And i think its very important for the public to be engaged in that debate throughout it as it plays out not just on one bill, but as a longgoing public discussion because it will have such big implications for the way our society functions. Host you were in grade school when the telecom act was written in 1996 guest yeah. Host is it time for a rewrite . Guest i know its been discussed by the Relevant Committee chairs. That talking point is used a lot in terms of age of the bill. Its obviously, like, a high impact thing, but that is potentially one of the structural things that, you know, thats being looked at. I think anytime you have the kind of party alignment, you really have to start looking at, you know, how do you tackle some of those thorny issues. Interestingly, i think that bill was pa passed with divided government in the 90s, so it doesnt mean it has to be in this moment, but there is clearly an opportunity. Host matt lira, thanks for your time. Guest thank you. It was a pleasure to be here. So ill approach this from the perspective of copyright. Host and now joining us on the communicators is lior div, cofounder and ceo of a group called cyberreason. Swhat is that . Guest its a Cybersecurity Company that focuses on the enterprise and market, and our basically mission is to protect or enable Big Enterprises to protect themselves in the new era of cybersecurity. Host okay. How do you do that . Guest so, basically, weve developed a new technology. Its a new Big Data Technology that enables the Consumer Information from every computer that exists in the environment consumes its information in realtime and really asks and answers those types of questions. How we see it right now an adversarial activity in the environment meaning not just the one virus in one computer, are we seeing adversaries that actually have a mission to attack this company. Once we find that there is an adversarial activity in the department, we can tell you what they are, how theyre moving in the environment and also [inaudible] in realtime. Host so is it that your code is different . Is that unique . Guest i think the main thing that is unique about cyberreason is the mindset and our heritage. We really understand the sensitive cybersecurity operation. Our heritage, i spent more than six years in the 8200 unit in israel [inaudible] and then a few years in the Government Agency that is equivalent to the cia here x this is reflective of the people we have. We have people coming from interpol, from nsa and other agencies. I think that in general cyberreason is bringing the knowledge of what the adversaries are out there, what they are doing, what is their mindset. Then we develop the technology that will enable us to protect those companies. Host so you take that mindset, do you do that as a computer scientist, or do you do that as a terrorist expert .