Thursday, March 17, 2011

U.S. Cyber Commander Gives Network Security a 'C'

When asked how he would grade the U.S. military's ability to protect its networks, Gen. Keith Alexander, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, said he would give it a C.
"I'd like to say an A, but I think it's going to take us some time to get to an A," Alexander said, testifying March 16 before the House Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities. An A grade would indicate that the networks were completely impenetrable by outside threats.
"We have made it extremely difficult for adversaries to get in and every day we improve that," Alexander said.
In June 2009, Defense Secretary Robert Gates directed the military to stand up Cyber Command as a subordinate organization to U.S. Strategic Command. Alexander, who also serves as the director of the National Security Agency (NSA), became head of Cyber Command in May. Both organizations are located at Fort Meade, Md.
The Pentagon announced Nov. 3 that the command had reached full operational capability.
"We've worked extremely hard at building the hardening of our networks," Alexander said. "We've made tremendous progress over the last two years."

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