The cyber threat the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) faces is at the same level as ICBM threats from Iran and North Korea, the director of the agency said in a committee hearing Thursday.
“We have taken inordinate steps to protect both our classified and unclassified networks from attack: constant 24/7 monitoring with teams in place, plus good material protections of those systems,” Vice Adm. James Syring, MDA Director, said at a House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces hearing on April 14.
In his prepared remarks, Syring said the agency is cognizant of the cyber threat and works aggressively to ensure the missile defenses are able to operate in a highly contested cyber environment.
With potential adversaries developing cyber forces as part of their general military structure and integrating that into their strategy, “We are working very closely with the Armed Services, the Combatant Commands, especially Strategic Command’s USCYBERCOM, and other agencies in DoD and the Federal Government to counter this growing threat.”
However, Syring said MDA’s biggest concern is the cleared defense contractor base and their cyber protections.
“I think my view is that you can try to attack my government networks every day, classified and unclassified–-but where they’re going next, and we’ve got examples of this, is to my cleared defense contractors with the unclassified controlled technical information,” he said at the hearing.
Syring recommended the government has to get the contractors up to the protection levels of the Defense Department, which he views as a very near-term and real requirement across the ballistic missile defense system.