Nvidia Security Team Faces Scrutiny After CSO Departure

Nvidia’s corporate security team faces scrutiny following the departure of its chief security officer and CEO Jensen Huang’s subsequent departure amid growing questions about personal relationships.

The Security Departures at Nvidia

Megaspeed has denied any wrongdoing. Zdjelar didn’t respond to questions Thursday about the transition or what the security team knew. Nothing public connects Reber’s or Zdjelar’s role changes to the Megaspeed matter. Reber didn’t respond to questions Thursday, and Nvidia has not answered related questions.

Affairs Create Vulnerabilities for Foreign Intelligence Exploitation

Not all of those relationships are the business of the security team. Relationships with subordinates typically fall to HR, legal, and the board. However, an affair with an executive at a company under federal investigation is a different animal.

Security specialists say affairs can create vulnerabilities that foreign intelligence services look to exploit. Catching that kind of exposure isn’t easy. Some people inside Nvidia clearly knew parts of the picture. What’s unclear is whether any of that reached security.

Nvidia Leadership Faces Growing US National Security Scrutiny — NewsX World

Defining Corporate Security Limits

Many companies define security very narrowly. Still, some of it is beyond what any team can do. Speaking generally and not about Huang, Eftimiades offered a hypothetical in which a CEO complains that he can’t do something because he is fighting a board that doesn’t want to do it. That tells an intelligence asset who the obstacle is.

The service then asks who the sticking point is and looks for ways into that person’s email and phone. “Intel world tends to be like cancer,” Eftimiades said. Any executive dealing with the country will tell you that they’ve been approached. He said what’s newer compared with Soviet-era spying is that the relationships these services cultivate now often last years, not weeks.

Technology Like IMSI Catchers Can Augment Human Intelligence

Technology can augment that human intelligence. Eftimiades pointed to IMSI catchers as one example. These devices mimic a cell tower so that nearby phones connect to them. “We have lost trillions [of dollars] in intellectual property,” is his guess. “Whatever we think we’re doing isn’t working,” Eftimiades said.