TechNet Cyber 2026

Emerging Leaders Disruptive by Design Panel: Elevating Mission Assurance - Securing C2 and Data Integrity in UAS/C-UAS Operations (Room Theater #1 - Booth 3302)

02 Jun 26
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Tracks: Continuing Education, Emerging Leaders, Theater 1, Theater Sessions

Speaker(s): Jon Gordon, Principal Account Executive - Federal Programs , RunSafe Security; Colton Shaw, Principal Architect, Spectro Cloud; Brian McCord, President and Founder , Legion X; Tyler Watkin, Head of Public Sector, Skyhigh Security

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Counter-UAS (C-UAS) play a fundamental role in today’s joint force operations. However, these systems’ reliance on digital Command and Control (C2) and software supply chains are increasingly targeted by RF jamming, cyber takeover, directed energy, supply chain insertion attacks and even kinetic destruction. These interdependencies introduce new risks that threaten the timeline and accurate data fusion necessary to optimize a layered defense. This panel examines the engineering resilience necessary for securing UAS and C-UAS data fusion to enable automated target pairing, sensor fusion, and electronic protection measures. Discussions will focus on the implementation of core security principles such as Zero Trust (ZT) and Secure by Design (SbD), and Privacy by Design (PbD) to protect C2 platforms against link compromise and GPS spoofing, embed AI accelerators into onboard computing, and establish collective security that effectively balances cryptographic verification with modular open architecture standards in a decentralized environment.