{"id":32601,"date":"2023-10-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=32601"},"modified":"2023-10-26T06:43:09","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T06:43:09","slug":"dod-leaders-redefining-cybersecurity-a-priority-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=32601","title":{"rendered":"DOD Leaders: Redefining Cybersecurity a Priority for All"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Gurpreet Bhatia, the Defense Department’s principal director for cybersecurity, illustrates a point during a townhall discussion on cybersecurity Oct. 19, 2023 at the Herbert R. Temple Jr. Army National Guard Readiness Center, Arlington Hall Station, Virginia. The event was part of a government-wide recognition of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. (Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Erich B. Smith)
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ARLINGTON, Va. \u2013 Cybersecurity is experiencing a dramatic transformation. What was once primarily the domain of IT specialists has evolved into a collective responsibility for all defense personnel. Each member now plays a crucial role in fortifying the digital realm against looming threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have shifted from a mindset of cyber just being something on the side,\u201d said Gurpreet Bhatia, the Department of Defense\u2019s principal director for cybersecurity and one of four senior leader panelists who underscored the point at a recent National Guard Bureau town hall. \u201cIt drives missions and assures mission success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cyber defenders have traditionally focused on protecting vital military assets like fighter jets and satellite systems, said Air Force Col. Jack Johnson, director of intelligence and cyber effects in the Air National Guard\u2019s intelligence and computers directorate. However, he highlighted an alarming trend in which near-peer adversaries and lone operators have broadened their scope to target military personnel.<\/p>\n

Johnson offered a poignant example, illustrating how hackers could target senior military leaders, potentially siphoning funds from their bank accounts and tarnishing their online presence through social media manipulation, impairing their ability to lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as we would look at what and who an adversary\u2019s center of gravity is, they are doing the same thing toward us,\u201d Johnson added. \u201cSo, we need to be aware of that and counter it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Good cybersecurity habits, otherwise known as \u201ccyber hygiene,\u201d ensure external adversaries and insider threats don\u2019t get a leg up on a unit, according to Leonel Garciga, Army chief information officer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re leaving your common access card [in a network computer] when you leave your workstation, you failed the test. If you turn on a secured network computer, open a window that folks outside can see in, you failed the test,\u201d Garciga said. \u201cIt\u2019s not defensive cyber stuff or next-level security. It\u2019s what we\u2019re supposed to be doing day-to-day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adhering to a routine, however, is not enough to support the warfighter, said Kenneth McNeill, the chief information officer with the NGB\u2019s communications and computers directorate.<\/p>\n

Keeping a vigilant mindset and not being comfortable \u201cevery single day at every level\u201d is \u201cthe way we do business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Even with the technological wonders that come with cyber, it\u2019s leadership that\u2019s going to elevate or jeopardize a cyber enterprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we need to have the tools on the network to do the things we do? Absolutely,\u201d said McNeill. \u201c[But] if you don\u2019t have the tactics, techniques and procedures in place, and leadership doesn\u2019t emphasize that, we\u2019re going to have a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

The panelists also discussed enhancing global partnerships in the cyber battlefield to counter the actions of adversaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are exponentially accelerating their speed of going after every single opportunity, every single vulnerability they can find,\u201d said Bhatia. He noted that cyber warfare is a \u201cglobal sport, so we need our allies and partners to be on board to defend this space.\u201d<\/p>\n

This gets done, he said, with diversity of thought and trust among all cyber defenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cAllies and partners really bring diversity in how we approach and tackle problems,\u201d Bhatia said. \u201cIt all relies on building that foundational trust that we can operate together in a very safe, secure manner of sharing information and opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recent conflicts have highlighted the importance of cyber cooperation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are seeing right now, whether we\u2019re talking about Ukraine or Israel, is just proliferation of online capability,\u201d said Garciga. \u201cIt\u2019s starting to recast what the world looks like in terms of cyberspace and not just cyber hygiene.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhatia said raising and maintaining awareness about the global implications of cybersecurity through required training is paramount regardless of one\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a world where we need cybersecurity \u2014 from your PC to your iPhone, all your routers and devices you bring into work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For Bhatia, forums like the one he and other panelists participated in prove that cyber is no longer an afterthought in the defense ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are building a different culture now that demands cybersecurity is part of our normal, day-to-day conversation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

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Gurpreet Bhatia, the Defense Department’s principal director for cybersecurity, illustrates a point during a townhall discussion on cybersecurity Oct. 19, 2023 at the Herbert R. Temple Jr. Army National Guard Readiness Center, Arlington Hall Station, Virginia. The event was part of a government-wide recognition of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. (Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32603,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32601"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32604,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32601\/revisions\/32604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}