DOD Action Needed: Enhancing Cybersecurity for National Defense

The Defense Department must do more to guard against cyber threats, said Robert Lentz, the department's director of information assurance. "As our dependence on information networks increases, it creates new vulnerabilities, as adversaries develop new ways of attacking and disrupting . . . The Defense Department must do more to guard against cyber threats, said Robert Lentz, the department's director of information assurance. "As our dependence on information networks increases, it creates new vulnerabilities, as adversaries develop new ways of attacking and disrupting U.S. forces," he said. "Everyone must be made aware of his or her role in assuring the nation's information."

Lentz, speaking late last week to a House Subcommittee on terrorism, unconventional threats and capabilities, said that in recent years the department has become more reliant on off-the-shelf products proven in the commercial world. But some experts said that off-the-shelf code can require frequent security patches because holes repeatedly emerge in commercial code. And off-the-shelf software mainly comes from people with no security clearance or workers in other countries.

The link for this article located at FCW is no longer available.