With the Defense Department’s new strategy that broadens the cyber missions of the armed forces to include more day to day offensive capabilities, the Army has the capabilities and authorities now to adapt to the changing strategy, a service official said on Monday.
“We have the capabilities and then when we are asked to employ the capabilities we have the authorities necessary to do that,” Brig. Gen. Richard Angle, deputy commanding general for Operations at Army Cyber Command, said in response to questions from reporters about whether the service has the capabilities and authorities it needs to carry out the DoD Cyber Strategy.
In addition to the new defense strategy for cyber, the White House the same week also released a new National Cyber Strategy that eases restrictions on offensive cyber operations (Defense Daily, Sept. 20).
Angle also said that given the new cyber strategy documents were only published recently, the Army is still studying them.
Brig. Gen. Jennifer Buckner, who leads the Army headquarters cyber office, said that operationally, the Army’s posture is one of “persistent engagement” and that the service doesn’t wait until something is about to happen to begin preparing.
For persistent engagement, “we have trained and ready forces, that we have to employ them in order to maintain contact with the enemy,” Bunker said.
A second point that she made is that “we will not wait for an event that is imminent, that’s not when you prepare.” Using the 2020 presidential election as an example, Bunker said the Army has cyber security preparations underway.
“So, we understand that engaging in this space, you don’t start right before these events,” Bunker said.
Angle, Bunker and Maj. Gen. Garrett Yee, the Army’s acting deputy chief information officer, participated in an Army cyber panel at the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington, D.C.