Leadership Divorce Not Optimal for NSA, Cyber Command, Report Suggests
A report filed with the Pentagon and intelligence agencies said it strongly supports maintaining a “dual hat” arrangement in which the National Security Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command continue to be commanded by the same four-star general. , case.
According to our own reports Ellen NakajimaI’m talking about Cyber Command’s operations during the election this morning.
The report was drafted by a small group led by the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joseph F. Dunford Jr.presented to the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin Director of National Intelligence Avril Haynes this month. They had requested a review last year.
While it didn’t lead to an official recommendation, it was found that holding the “double hat” would be of mutual benefit to both organizations, and that holding it would be a net positive for national security. Anonymous as it is not published.
Haines and Austin are reviewing the report and have notified Congress, officials said.
Issues surrounding the “dual hat” sparked controversy As long as Cyber Command, founded in 2010, exists.
“Given the detailed report made by General Dunford, it will be difficult to see how they could split the double hat in the near future,” said one US official.
In the first few years of Cybercom, many assumed that a much smaller command would one day grow large enough and acquire sufficient skills to be self-sustaining. . It still shares the same location (Fort Meade, Maryland) with the NSA, and for years relied on the NSA, the world’s most powerful electronic espionage agency, for the tools and resources needed to carry out its operations. We have supported access to overseas networks.
Holding two demanding leadership positions was considered too much for one person. Some worried that the NSA would take resources from her Cyber com if the hat was split. Others feared that Cybercom’s reliance on the NSA would waste the NSA and provide little in return.
Then Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election. In 2018, the new Cybercom NSA Director, Gen. Paul Nakasone, created a “Russian Small Group,” made up of personnel from both agencies and tasked with countering foreign adversaries who might try to interfere in the midterm elections. Armed with new powers that give it more discretion over its offensive operations, the team launched a campaign to disrupt Russian troll farms before interfering in the midterm elections.
Mr. Nakasone has since carried out similar activities in 2020 and this year, earning praise from lawmakers. “I have long believed that the dual hat arrangement worked and that there was no reason to change it. Jim Langevin (DR.I.) Leading lawmaker on cybersecurity issues retiring this year.
Nakasone, who took the reins of the twin leaders in 2018, has made it clear that he supports the deal.
- “Why are dual hats important to the nation?” he said at the Reagan Defense Forum in California earlier this month. “It gives us he three things: … It gives us speed. It gives us agility. will give us.”
The NSA and Cybercom are now jointly developing tools, and the command is no longer seen as siphoning resources from spy agencies for nothing in return, one official said. Cybercom’s “hunt-forward” missions in foreign partners’ computer networks often harvest malware useful to the NSA.
Dunford’s team interviewed many practitioners, ranging from four-star to top-level civilians, officials said. They found that even some police officers who once favored splitting hats are now in favor of keeping the deal.
The review “identified substantial benefits of the NSA and USCYBERCOM dual-hat leadership structure, justifying termination of the arrangement even if additional areas of research that could improve performance were identified.” We have not identified any significant negative impact on intelligence operations, cyber-effectiveness operations, or cyber defenses. Under Dual Hat,” it said. Nicole de Haya spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Whatever decision is made, Nakasone told reporters earlier this month, “It’s not what’s best for the U.S. cyber command, NSA, or intelligence agencies, it’s what’s best for the nation. It should be
Martin Matishak record Previously reported in a Dunford review.
As it did in 2018 and 2020, Cybercom used aggressive cyber actions against certain foreign targets before disrupting the election, Ellen reported today.
- In 2018, the target was a Russian troll farm.
- In 2020, the target was an Iranian man working for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
- Citing a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity, Ellen reported earlier this year that Cybercom targeted many of the same foreign organizations.
Nakasone spoke at a media roundtable earlier this month about the interim operation, but did not name the target of the operation.
“We relentlessly carried out operations to prevent foreign enemies from using our infrastructure to influence us,” Nakasone said. “We understood how our foreign adversaries were using infrastructure around the world. is.”
- “Don’t worry,” he said. “We had an operation long before the midterm elections started. The operation was probably on the day of the midterm elections.”
- “This is the ‘lasting commitment,'” he added. “This is the idea of understanding a foreign enemy and operating outside the United States.”
Cyber executive expected to leave Biden administration
National Cyber Director Chris Inglis I plan to retire after retirement. CNNReported by Sean Lyngaas of . Since July 2021, Inglis has served as the government’s first National Cyber Directorate. This is a Senate-approved role that Congress created last year.
Inglis plans to step down within the next two months, but it’s not clear when he will announce such a move. Maybe after the Biden administration announced the National Cybersecurity Strategy.
“Reached by phone on Wednesday, Inglis did not deny that he was planning to resign, but would not comment on any further moves,” Ringers wrote. It was about getting the early White House office up and running and putting it in good hands,” he told CNN.
The Guardian, a leading UK newspaper, has been hacked
The paper’s technology infrastructure and some of its systems were affected by the hack. GuardianJim Waterson of . The newspaper continued to publish stories on its website and said Thursday’s newspaper could be printed.
Guardian Media Group Chief Executive Officer Anna Bateson and Editor-in-Chief Catherine Viner said: said to the staff. “Our technical team is working to address all aspects of this incident and the majority of our staff are able to work from home as they did during the pandemic.” Encourage staff to work from home for the rest of the week.
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US imposes sanctions on Iranian officials over crackdown on protests (Reuters)
