Cyber-Command May Help Protect Civilian Networks

By Elen Nakashima

The Pentagon is considering whether to create a new cyber-command that would oversee government efforts to protect the military’s computer networks and would also assist in protecting the civilian government networks, the head of the National Security Agency said yesterday.
The new command would be headquartered at Fort Meade, the NSA’s director, Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander, told the House Armed Services terrorism subcommittee. Alexander, who is a front-runner to assume control of the command if it is created, said its focus would be to better protect the U.S. military’s computers by marrying the offensive and defensive capabilities of the military and the NSA.
Through the command, the NSA would also provide technical support to the Department of Homeland Security, which is in charge of protecting civilian networks and helps safeguard the energy grid and other critical infrastructure from cyber-attack, Alexander said. He stressed that the NSA does not want to run or operate the civilian networks, but help Homeland Security improve its efforts.
His remarks come as the White House is preparing to release a report based on a review of the government’s cyber-security initiatives. The cyber-command idea was raised in a letter last year by then-Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.
As proposed by the Pentagon, the command would fall under the U.S. Strategic Command, which is tasked with defending against attacks on vital interests.
The NSA has “phenomenal depth and expertise far beyond what is there at DHS,” said Amit Yoran, a former top DHS cyber-security official now in the private sector. But he cautioned that the effort must be transparent.
Alexander said a host of questions, both technical and legal, must be resolved for the military and intelligence community to broaden their partnerships with other entities. Already, DHS officials have been invited to see how the NSA runs its cyber-security. But, to truly address the cyber-threat, the military must boost its partnership with the private sector as well as with DHS, Alexander said at the hearing.
The path forward has obstacles, he acknowledged. Say the NSA discovers a malicious computer code that an adversary is using, he said. If the government shares that classified information with, say, the antivirus industry, “how do we ensure that it’s not given out so widely that our adversaries have it?” he said. [The Washington Post]