What the Golden Dome Can't Protect: Securing Critical Software

Join Joseph M. Saunders, Founder and CEO of RunSafe Security, and former Gartner analysts Brad LaPorte and Rob Smith of Lionfish Tech Advisors for a conversation on the part of the Golden Dome that often gets left out: the software. The United States is building a dome to stop missiles before they reach their targets, yet the aircraft, power grids, water systems, and defense platforms behind it run on decades of C and C++ code that adversaries are already targeting. China-linked groups such as Volt Typhoon have spent years prepositioning inside U.S. critical infrastructure, holding access for a moment of their choosing, while AI now finds exploitable flaws faster than certified systems can be patched. For embedded and safety-critical systems, a single patch can take three months to more than a year and trigger a recertification that costs more than the fix.

Built for product security leaders, program offices, and manufacturers in defense, energy, medical, industrial, and transportation, this session tackles the question those teams face every day: how do you protect software you cannot quickly patch or rewrite? Brad and Rob will explain why they see protecting fielded software as the missing layer of national defense and what a Digital Golden Dome looks like in practice. Joe will make the case that critical infrastructure cybersecurity is national security, and that the next line of defense has to live inside the software itself, protecting it every moment it runs in the field.