DOD Readies Elements Crucial to Cyber Operations

Hard work by the administration, the services and the leadership at U.S. Cyber Command is putting in place elements crucial to defending U.S. and allied interests in cyberspace, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy said in a recent interview.

Eric Rosenbach cited Defense Department progress in creating a concept for operating in the newest warfare domain, building and training a joint cyber force, and updating the standing rules of engagement for operating in cyberspace to align with Presidential Policy Directive 20, or PPD-20, on cyber operations.

Without naming specific countries, Rosenbach also said that senior DOD officials have made a conscious decision to expand the traditional U.S. circle of allied engagement to “key regions” to defend common interests in cyberspace.

“Through an intense deliberative process, the [most senior] leadership in the department decided that we needed to make a significant investment in the people who would constitute the cyber force,” the deputy assistant secretary told American Forces Press Service. “The investment is going into a structure that is now more defined than it ever was in the past, and this has been helpful in having everyone in the department understand what the missions will be for the new influx of personnel.”

SOURCE: defense.gov