Meet Morgan Adamski, an NSA cyber leader who believes in industry-agency collaboration

Even with as many crises as cybersecurity workers may encounter, Morgan Adamski sees the less stressful times as key to building good connections.

“You can’t establish trust in a crisis, which underscores the need to cultivate relationships and partnerships well in advance of any crisis,” she told Technical.ly. “So that when assistance is required, you can simply pick up the phone, and it’s that straightforward.”

For her many accomplishments, Adamski, who serves as the director of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, is among the finalists for the Cybersecurity Association of Maryland, Inc.’s  (CAMI) seventh annual Cybersecurity Awards. She is specifically recognized as one of three finalists for the Cyber Warrior Woman Award, which will be presented during the awards ceremony from 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26 at Merriweather Lakehouse in Columbia, Maryland — the same city as CAMI’s HQ.

Ahead of that ceremony, Technical.ly spoke with Adamski about her accomplishments, advice for aspiring cyber technologists and work experience. Before her tenure at the NSA, Adamski worked as a cyber threat analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2008 to 2010. During those years, she also attended Mercyhurst University, where she obtained a master’s of science degree in strategic intelligence.

When asked about the accomplishments that may have led to her CAMI nomination, Adamski highlighted the NSA’s transition toward a more open and transparent engagement with the private sector. She cited an illustrative instance from February 2022 involving a cyberattack on telecommunications company Viasat’s KA-SAT network, which resulted in a partial disruption of KA-SAT’s consumer-oriented satellite broadband service.

“On the morning of the attack, Viasat reached out to us, and we were on a call within hours,” she said. “They started to share information about what they were observing in their networks and what had transpired. We were able to glean valuable insights and lessons from this because the company was proactive in their approach. We subsequently developed mitigation guidance not only for their benefit but for the broader satellite communications industry.”

Adamski said that the NSA already had a “foundational relationship” with Viasat, which helped with the response. She additionally highlighted the significance of forging partnerships with the private sector to bring about a transformation in national cybersecurity strategies.

“The combined talent of our partners is the greatest competitive advantage we have to confront these increasingly sophisticated threats in cybersecurity,” she said. “Industry provides information that enhances our own and vice versa. Typically, industry can assist with incident response and unique views on tradecraft and indicators when we — NSA, in the US government — want to focus on what’s the intent of the actors, what’s their long-term plan. And when you take those two pieces together, you build the comprehensive picture that we at times are lacking because we’re not talking, and we’ve been able to fix that.”

Adamski also referenced a quote from her colleague, NSA Director General Paul M. Nakasone, which resonated with her: “It’s not that we can’t connect the dots. We can’t see all the dots.”

Advice for aspiring Cyber Warrior Women — specifically in Baltimore

Adamski, who is from Baltimore, described an abundance of talent in the region that she and the NSA have tried to connect with and foster.

“ We have [a] student population and a bunch of universities in the area that are really invested in growing the cybersecurity workforce,” she said, adding: “And quite honestly, you know, Maryland’s home to NSA. You know, they [Baltimore] have a cybersecurity agency — the largest, almost, in the world — sitting in their backyard. And we really want to make sure, as an agency, that we’re out there, working with Maryland schools, working with Maryland foundations to just continue to grow that workforce. And so I’m just excited that these types of things occur regardless of whether or not people are nominated or get awards.”

For those aspiring to enter cybersecurity in Baltimore and beyond, Adamski advised diversifying job portfolios and seizing opportunities outside one’s comfort zone. She also highlighted the importance of mentorship in one’s journey.

“Mentoring is essential,” she said. “It’s important to have a mentor and I’m not talking about just female mentors. I’m talking about mentors of all genders, and anyone you can trust to help you stretch meet your goals and grow your career.”

Adamski elaborated that having a mentor involves more than just someone with more experience explaining the path forward.

“One key aspect I think of when we grow our careers, when people think about mentors, is they want someone to just tell them what to do,” she said. “That is not what a mentor is expected or supposed to do. A mentor is supposed to help you reach your own conclusions and own your decision, right? So you want people who really challenge you to think about problems in a different way.”

In addition to mentorship, Adamski noted the importance of comprehensive cybersecurity education.

“That’s not just the technical training,” she said. “It’s the policy. It’s the compliance implications. It’s international standards. It’s all different types of fields. We, the collective we, those of us that are in these fields, are responsible for building that next generation of talent. And so we’re really encouraging girls to pursue STEM careers to diversify the workforce.”

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