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Michigan Senator Gary Peters, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, told S&P Global Market Intelligence that AI technology is critical to future defense capabilities. |
The recently passed U.S. Defense Spending Bill recommends increasing spending on AI for cybersecurity in the Department of Defense. Policy experts and analysts say this is important in the face of a proliferation of increasingly sophisticated threats.
At press time, exactly how much $857.9 billion in funding approved by The 2023 U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) specifically dedicates to AI research and development, and the bill makes several planned funding increases for AI research programs, application development, and workforce training. I am emphasizing. It also contains directives to create. A five-year roadmap for adopting AI in DoD cyber missions.
The Department of Defense must embrace AI technology. That’s because “AI technology is the way forward,” Senator Gary Peters (D-Michigan) told his S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Peters, who chaired the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and has led Congress on several cybersecurity initiatives, said the next member of Congress will consider further issues at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity. rice field.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment on AI and cybersecurity initiatives. While the NDAA highlights spending priorities for the Department of Defense, Congress says he needs to pass the defense budget as part of a larger government appropriations bill that will fund all federal agencies in fiscal year 2023. there is.
AI and cyber concerns
Over the past decade, cyberthreats have become more automated and more frequent, said Paige Bartley, senior research analyst specializing in data, AI and analytics at 451 Research.
“These are sophisticated attacks, often rooted in nation-states,” said Bartley. “We have access to more sophisticated technology than people who are just writing code by hand.”
Human teams cannot scale to the efficiency of automated systems that can be deployed via AI, says Bartley. Defending against such attacks requires employing automated detection technology.
Tejas Desai, Disruptive Technologies Analyst at GlobalX ETF, said AI investment in NDAA is a response to growing concerns over potential threats following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other geopolitical issues. said, these investments will put the Department of Defense and its partners in a better position for future cyber operations.
“Me think it was Great quick of of cycle, However of long term dividend [that AI] intention delivery one time of infrastructure teeth of place that is TRUE Bright,” said Desai.
Infrastructure questions
Removed from the NDAA’s final text were initiatives aimed at protecting critical infrastructure. The Directive required sector risk management authorities to designate systemically important critical infrastructure entities and establish a common minimum level of protection required for critical infrastructure such as financial institutions, power grids and hospitals. prize.
Removal from final bill Efforts to Create a Comprehensive Approach to Remediate Infrastructure Exposure Delayedsaid Lauren Zabierek, executive director of cyber projects at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University.
Despite some perceived shortcomings, the defense bill was hailed as a step forward by the cybersecurity industry.
Robert Sheldon, Director of Public Policy and Strategy at CrowdStrike Holdings Inc., an endpoint threat detection company, said:
workforce education
As the adoption of AI in the Department of Defense increases, the U.S. military and defense agencies are expected to focus on further educating their employees on AI technologies and tools.
Bartley and Dessai point to a skills gap in this area that the NDAA is addressing through a provision to consider creating pilot programs for AI and cybersecurity curricula offered through the National Security Agency (NSA). increase.
Both analysts agreed that the momentum of AI adoption will forever change the way future cyber warfare is conducted.
“We are moving from bullets to data to cyber,” said Desai. “It only makes sense to invest more.”
451 Research is part of S&P Global Market Intelligence
