Experts Warn of Increased Security Risks
Peter W. Singer, a strategist and senior fellow at New America, tells Defense Scoop that “rather than ‘relax’ cybersecurity training, it would have been better for our warfighting capability to ‘update’ the training, both to enhance its effectiveness and defend against the new wave of both cyber and cognitive warfare threats that foes like Russia, China, N. Korea, and Iran have been very clear they intend to use against US forces.”
Lauryn Williams, deputy director and senior fellow in the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, raises similar concerns, saying “Cybersecurity training is essential for any mature organization, especially one as large as the Pentagon. Military personnel handle sensitive information daily, which U.S. adversaries are eager to penetrate.”
“Annual cyber awareness training is critical to inform personnel of cyber risks and how to spot common adversary tactics,” Williams adds, citing phishing attempts that could give attackers network access if successful. “This training requirement usually takes no more than one hour in an entire year to complete. Eliminating it is certain to decrease the Department’s overall cybersecurity.”
