By Terri Moon Cronk
The 2018 Defense Department cyber strategy prioritizes the challenge of great-power competition and recognizes that DOD must defend forward to counter U.S. competitors’ long-term, coordinated campaigns of malicious activity to gain political, economic and military advantage, a DOD official said on Capitol Hill.
”The strategy normalizes the department’s efforts in the cyberspace domain, integrating cyberspace operations into military operations across all physical domains, and reinforces the need to prevent or degrade threats before they harm U.S. national interests,” Kenneth P. Rapuano, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security, told the House Armed Forces Committee.
Also appearing with Rapuano was Army Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, commander, U.S. Cyber Command and director, National Security Agency chief, Central Security Service.
”Since last year … we have had a number of successes, including defining the cyber operations forces, initiating the first DOD-wide effort to achieve 100% visibility of network devices at the operating system level, defining what constitutes the department’s cyberspace operating force and finalizing readiness standards for the cyber mission force and finally, maturing the concept of layered deterrence,” the assistant secretary said.
DOD also has made progress in operationalizing the new, more proactive approach in cyberspace, he added. ”Defending elections is an enduring mission of DOD,” Rapuano said. ”To that end, we are supporting a whole-of-government effort to defend the 2020 elections.”
DOD, principally through U.S. Cyber Command and NSA’s election security group, is complementing other federal departments by leveraging its unique authorities and capabilities and their proactive approach to defend forward, he noted.
U.S. cyber forces are increasingly engaged in cyberspace to promote stability and security and to defend the nation, the assistant secretary said, adding, “Our interagency and private sector partners are key to ensuring that DOD can operate and project power in a contested cy ..
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