“We’re spending a lot of money in this area right now, but we don’t understand where we’re spending it” says Navy undersecretary Thomas Modly.

WASHINGTON: The Navy is making cyber investigations automatic after any mishap, starting with the at-sea collision that killed 10 sailors aboard the USS McCain. They don’t expect to find any evidence of a cyber attack this time, admirals emphasize, but they’re using the McCain as a test case. If there was a cyber attack, however, it’s… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: There’s been a sea change in the Navy. Training and organizations are changing as admirals raised on missiles and torpedoes come to terms with cyber warfare — both as a potential weak point and as a weapon. “I don’t think we could have said it two years ago,” Vice Adm. Jan Tighe told me.… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: When Iran hacked the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet in fall 2013, it shook up the sea services’ approach to cybersecurity. Thanks to that new vigilance, their networks have fended off every subsequent attack, the head of Navy Cyber Command said today. That doesn’t mean no one breached any portion of any Navy or Marine Corps… Keep reading →

A high-level cybersecurity task force will present its plan to the Chief of Naval Operations sometime tomorrow. Called CYBERSAFE (one word, all caps), the initiative is intended to overhaul information technology in the comprehensive way the SUBSAFE instruction overhauled all submarine safety after the USS Thresher disaster. Fixing up IT procurement, though, is just one step towards a larger… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: The four service cyber commands want to move personnel and resources from routine network operations — the classic IT jobs — to online attack and defense executed with a “warrior” mentality, their senior officers told Congress yesterday afternoon. Increasingly “these men and women view themselves as warriors,” Vice Admiral Michael Rogers, chief of… Keep reading →