A New Front Line for Freedom | A New Book From Jeffrey J. Engle

In his latest book, A New Front Line for Freedom: Protecting America’s Critical Infrastructure in a Hyper-Connected World, Jeffrey J. Engle discusses the vulnerabilities of the United States' critical infrastructure in the face of growing cyber threats. The text illustrates through examples how security oversights, such as failure to revoke former employees' access and outdated systems, can jeopardize vital national security sectors like energy.

One narrative example discusses an industrial park that has lapses in security measures, allowing former employees access and making it susceptible to data breaches, while hackers monitor the park's enterprise architecture and data flows. Another section centers on the security challenges of transformer farms, which are critical for the electric supply. It details the complications of updating the operating system due to bureaucratic delays and the mismatch with other infrastructure components, compounded by incomplete records and infrastructure damage.

The overarching theme is the need for better protection of the critical infrastructure that is integral to the American way of life. It emphasizes that as a country, there is a lack of preparedness for predictable cyber threats, and this poses a risk to national security and the ability to sustain leadership in the global community. The text suggests that adversaries fully understand the vulnerabilities of the US and are constantly working to exploit them in cyberspace, potentially leading to significant consequences if left unchecked.

The book is getting updated in light of the rapid and broad adoption and implementation of generative AI solutions given their potential value and dire risk they pose.

Jeffrey J Engle

Cyber Security Consultant
Testimonials

Praise for All the War They Want

“For Jeff’s entire career, he has been working on the most difficult and important problems affecting our country with a high degree of success. He has the traits (intelligence, grit, determination) that only the elite of the elite have. The concepts and the approach that he has learned through practical experience are the only way to solve the difficult challenges our country is facing in the cybersecurity arena.”

Gerard Amaro
President, United Data Technologies

“All the War They Want” is a hard-hitting sharing of Jeff’s experiences and lessons learned in combat, business, and life. It’s an opportunity for the reader to see unconventional techniques for looking at problems and use them to overcome challenges in life and business.”

Rich Robertson
U.S. Special Operations Command Program Manager, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

“Jeff is constantly on the search to make a difference in the world and make his mark. Little to no other people exist of his caliber—he is an irreplaceable asset in more ways than one.”

Christen Prasse
Head of Strategic Accounts, Conquest Cyber

“It is evident from the moment you hear Jeff speak that his life’s work is freedom. He understands the world on a macro and micro level, and his contribution to the world is limitless.”

Elizabeth Goodwin
Managing Director, CBRE

“Jeff Engle is a member of a rare breed of warrior-poets, whose dedication and conviction to the fight for our nation and our way of life have manifested in various capacities in his lifetime of service: special operator, biochemical emergency expert, and now, cybersecurity thought leader and innovator. It does not take long for anyone who has met Jeff in person to realize and imagine the level of conviction and mental focus that he has put into honing his mind and his craft to produce the ideas, beliefs, and actions needed to execute and win on this new cybersecurity battlefield. The principles and alternative thinking that he espouses in All the War They Want are not abstract or merely theoretical—they have been hardened and tested by Jeff and others in the crucible of combat, both in the physical and cyber war zones. Could not be prouder of him.”

Doug Kim
Lt Col (ret.) US Army Special Forces

About the author

Whether he is protecting his platoon from ambush on a dusty road outside Baghdad as a young army sergeant, taking out high-value terrorist targets as a member of the elite special operations community, crushing a jiujitsu opponent to win a Pan-American Championship title, or strategizing about how to block hackers from attacking critical American infrastructure systems, Jeffrey J. Engle’s fighting style is best characterized as unconventional. Cool. Calculated. Gritty. And totally disconcerting to his adversaries.

During his military career, Engle earned two Bronze Star Medals, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal for Valor, the Combat Action Badge, and the Military Freefall Parachutists Badge in addition to being selected as one of the youngest members of the world’s most elite fighting unit. Following his medical retirement from special operations, Engle continued his fight to protect the country. Through his work with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, he oversaw emergency management and mass warning/notification systems following terrorist attacks, school shootings, and the like. He devised and coordinated training exercises at the national level to prepare for attacks with weapons of mass destruction and responded to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, writing a book on disease emergence from the Asia-Pacific region. 

Engle was then tapped to create and lead Conquest Cyber to help protect critical American assets from ongoing cyberattacks using the philosophies and tactics he learned in special ops. A graduate of Virginia Tech, where he earned a master’s degree in political science, Engle has also earned a cybersecurity certificate from Harvard University. His hobbies include flying, diving, and deep-sea fishing.