San Francisco, California USA
Cyber security has become one of the most critical concerns of our era. To explore the most effective cyber security protection options, we turned to an expert with decades of experience in the field.
Meet the Expert: Michael Irish, Founder of SedoGravitas
Michael Irish is a strategic leader with over 25 years of experience spanning AI, cyber defense, quantum computing, national security, and healthcare. As the founder of SedoGravitas Partners and Vivacitas Healthcare, he has advised the Global Fortune 50 and senior government officials in the US, Singapore, the UAE, and over 20 other countries.
A co-inventor on issued patents in AI and machine learning, Irish originally cultivated his strategic skills in wargaming for the US Department of Defense and the 19-agency national security community.
Selected Leadership and Corporate Projects
- SedoGravitas Partners: Formed to enhance enterprise and national technology strategy, corporate decision-making under pressure, and risk mitigation.
- Vivacitas Healthcare: An award-winning healthcare brand utilizing AI and predictive analytics for disease mitigation and fall prevention platforms.
- LRS Identity, Inc. (now NEC): Former leader in iris and mobile biometric technology, responsible for border biometric systems in the UAE and Singapore.
- Accenture Management Consulting: Served as the Global Go-to-Market Lead for the Identity and Border Systems Practice, advising national leaders on security.
- Expert Resource: Watch Michael Irish’s insights on the International Finance TV Interview
or his Healthcare CEO Keynote Address.
An Open Letter on National Cyber Strategy
The following is an internal advisory overview provided by Michael Irish, addressed to the Incoming Director of the Office of National Cyber Security Policy.
Subject: Cybersecurity and the Private Sector Role in Supporting National Strategy
The historic convergence of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and cyber advancements is advancing at astonishing speed. Together, they guarantee a crucial turning point for humanity.
A cyber catastrophe inside the USA can impact every aspect of life, from internet access and cloud-based systems to finance, transportation, and healthcare. Unless the private sector changes its governance and accountability at the corporate Board of Directors’ level, these problems will accelerate, threatening the entire economy.
1. Perspectives on Cyber Warfare and Cyber Crime
It is estimated that as much as 1% to 10% of the entire global economy is lost to cyber-crime, ransomware, deep fakes, and malware. The US critical information infrastructure is under continuous attack by state actors using complex external proxies.
Recent Major Vulnerabilities and Exploits
- CISA and MITRE Compromises: Both organizations were compromised via the exploitation of Ivanti Connect Secure VPN devices, linked to sophisticated espionage threat actors.
- The CrowdStrike Falcon Failure (July 2024): An automated software update failure triggered systemic collapses, causing “blue screens of death” across airports, banks, and healthcare sectors, with direct costs estimated at $5 Billion USD or more.
The True Scale of Modern Cyber Crime
The Economic Threat: Global cybercrime is growing at over 10% per year. By 2025, the aggregate cost of cyber-crime will represent an amount greater than the economic output of Japan or Germany. The global top three economies will be: The USA, China, and Cyber-crime.
According to data from Accenture’s “The Cyber-Resilient CEO” report:
Only 33% of CEOs strongly agree that they have “deep knowledge” of the evolving cyber threat landscape, leaving many unclear on how to address generative AI and new attack vectors.
96% of CEOs view cybersecurity as central for growth, stability, and competitiveness.
2. Cyber Security Protection Options for the Private Sector
To reduce our nation’s vulnerability, corporate governance must enhance the use of predictive cyber-decision-intelligence, advanced risk management, and improved structural resilience. Driving change requires a strategic balance of accountability and corporate empowerment.
Regulatory Measures and Incentives (Sticks and Carrots)
- The Stick: Strengthened regulations, updated SEC disclosure rules, and strict corporate cybersecurity accountability laws coupled with rigorous enforcement.
- The Carrot: New federal tax incentives for infrastructure hardening and the structural sharing of unclassified best practices used by the national security apparatus.
3. Recommended Actions for C-Suite Resilience
To position your business as a valuable partner in nationwide security and protect your corporate assets, boards should engage with industry specialists to implement custom resilience models.
Core Pillars of a Proactive Cyber Defense Strategy
- Resilience Modeling: Build strategic organizational models to enhance preparedness and define tactical deployment before a crisis occurs.
- Vendor Vetting & Filtering: Enforce strict vetting of third-party vendors and filter high-level decision-intelligence to drive actionable responses.
- Black Swan Planning: Identify and plan for foreseeable threats and low-probability, high-impact events that are increasing daily in severity.
- Stress Testing: Evaluate communication, containment, and attack mitigation strategies through structured leadership stress tests.
- Over-the-Horizon Planning: Create long-term strategic plans to anticipate risk 3 to 5 years into the future and pull those execution requirements into the present.
Time is of the essence. Leaders must charge bravely forward to secure the technological infrastructure of our businesses and our country.
Very respectfully,
Michael Irish
CEO, SedoGravitas Cybersecurity Operations
