The US Makes Cyber Command a Priority

What does this mean for the US?

President Trump issued the following statement, “This new Unified Combatant Command will strengthen our cyberspace operations and create more opportunities to improve our Nation’s defense. The elevation of United States Cyber Command demonstrates our increased resolve against cyberspace threats and… will also help streamline command and control of time-sensitive cyberspace operations… Elevations will also ensure that critical cyberspace operations are adequately funded.”

The Cyber Command was created under the Obama administration, commissioned by then Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The goal of Cyber Command is to unify oversight of the military’s digital offensive and defensive operations and cybersecurity resources. Cyber Command also organizes and leads military network defense.

The NSA was the original home of Cyber Command, but with the current threats from country-sponsored cyber espionage from North Korea, Russian election interference and massive Chinese data extraction, it makes sense for the US Government to make Cyber Command its own entity with its own budget to combat growing cyber terrorism.

Many private security experts laud the decision and the autonomy an independent Cyber Command will provide the United States. The objective for taking Cyber Command’s control from the NSA and instead serving as a standalone entity is to create more offensive operations, rather than placing the US Cyber Command in defensive mode.

According to Julian Sanchez, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute “It takes the same expertise to infiltrate for offensive purposes or intelligence until the last step, so that was the logic behind lumping them together with the NSA. But that last step is something where those two missions are fundamentally at odds, because an intelligence agency is focused on preserving access over time, while in offensive operations you’re usually alerting the adversary to your presence, and ultimately burning your access. So, there has been a sense of tension between the mission of the NSA and Cyber Command.”

Versasec applauds the move, which affirms that the US government is serious about developing the best cyber securities to protect its defense, citizens and overall national security. Versasec will continue to offer various US government agencies the latest and best identity and access management technologies to help them fight internal and third-party identity theft. To learn more about Versasec’s identity and access management solutions, visit https://versasec.com/products.

Tags: cybercrime, cybersecurity, iam, cybercommand, trump, potus.