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With help from the services, U.S. Cyber Command continually
increases its Cyber Mission Forces’ readiness to hold targets that
are at risk amid the intensified pace of international conflict in
cyberspace threats, the Cybercom commander told a Senate panel here
today.
Navy Adm. Michael S. Rogers, also director of the
National Security Agency and the Central Security Service, testified
before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the state of his
command.
“Hardly a day has gone by during my tenure at Cyber
Command that we have not seen at least one significant cybersecurity
event occurring somewhere in the world,” Rogers told the senators,
noting that the command and the Defense Department face a growing
variety of advanced threats from actors who operate with ever more
sophistication, speed and precision.
Tracking Adversaries
Cyber
Command tracks state and nonstate adversaries as they
expand capabilities to advance their interests in cyberspace and try
to undermine U.S. national interests and those of the nation’s
allies, the admiral said.
“Conflict in the cyber domain is
not simply a continuation of kinetic operations by digital means,”
he added. “It's unfolding according to its own logic, which we are
continuing to better understand, and we are using this understanding
to enhance the department and the nation's situational awareness and
management of risk."
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April 26, 2017 - Army National Guard, Air National Guard and Army Reserve service members and civilian information technology experts prepare to engage as the opposing force, or "Red Cell" for exercise Cyber Shield 17 at Camp Williams, Utah. Cyber Shield 17 is a National Guard exercise designed to assess participants’ ability to respond to cyber incidents. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael Giles)
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Cybercom’s three lines of operations provide mission assurance
for Defense Department operations and defend the department’s
information environment, support joint force commander objectives
globally, and deter or defeat strategic threats to U.S. interests
and critical infrastructure. The command conducts full-spectrum
military cyberspace operations to enable actions in all domains,
ensure U.S. and allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny
freedom of action to adversaries, the admiral said.
“Defense
of DoD’s information networks remains our top priority, of course,
and that includes weapon systems, platforms and data. We are
completing the build out of the cyber mission force … with all teams
scheduled to be fully operational by the end of fiscal year [2018],”
Rogers added, noting that with help from the services the command
continually increases cyber mission force readiness to hold targets
at risk.
Unified Combatant Command
Rogers said that
Cybercom now is complying with the recent National Defense
Authorization Act directive to elevate it to unified combatant
command status. From its beginnings in 2009, Cybercom has been a
subunified command under U.S. Strategic Command.
The admiral
noted that he serves as commander of U.S. Cyber Command and as
director of the National Security Agency.
“This dual-hat
appointment underpins the close partnership between Cyber Command
and NSA, a significant benefit in cyberspace operations,” Rogers
said. But the institutional arrangement for providing that support
may evolve as Cybercom grows to full proficiency in the future, he
added.
In a separate provision, Rogers explained, the NDAA
described conditions for splitting the dual-hat arrangement once
that can happen without impairing either organization’s
effectiveness.
Critical Enablers
Over the coming year, Rogers said, he would engage with
committee members to enhance the command's responsibilities and
authorities by increasing cyber manpower, increasing cyber workforce
professionalization, building capacity and developing and
streamlining acquisition processes. “These are critical enablers for
cyberspace operations in a dynamically changing global environment,”
he said.
The
admiral added that Cybercom works to secure and defend DoD systems
and networks, counter adversaries and support national and joint
warfighter objectives in and through cyberspace. The command's
operational successes have validated concepts for creating cyber
effects in the battlefield and beyond, he noted.
Innovations
are constantly emerge out of operational necessity and the
real-world experiences the cyber workforce has in meeting the
requirements of national decision makers, and joint force commanders
continue to refine operational approaches and effectiveness, Rogers
said.
“This, combined with agile policies, faster
decision-making processes, increased capabilities, broader concepts
of operations and smarter command-and-control structures will ensure
that Cyber Command obtains its full potential for countering
adversaries' cyber strategies,” the admiral added.
“I've seen
growth in the command size, budget and missions, [and] that
investment of resources, time and effort is paying off. And more
importantly, it's helping keep Americans safer -- not only in
cyberspace, but in other domains as well,” he said.
By Cheryl Pellerin
DOD News
Copyright 2017
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