What Role Should DoD Take in Cybersecurity?

Does the Department of Defense have a role in the event of a major cyber attack on critical infrastructure?

This is the question that Rep. Mac Thornberry, chair of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threat and Capabilities, raised.  Today, the Congressman convened a group of cybersecurity experts from academia, not-for-profits and the private sector to assess the vulnerabilities due to cyber vandalism, theft, crimes and warfare of the country’s critical infrastructure.
 
Although the panel of experts offered an assessment of steps currently taken by the academic, private and non-governmental sectors to prepare for cyber warfare, there was no opinion expressed on what exactly the Department of Defense’s role should be to address a cyber attack on the country’s critical infrastructure.  

This is the first of several hearings, and we should expect to hear from the Department of Defense in the near future on what the agency’s leadership believes their role should be and steps they are currently taking to prepare for a major cyber attack on critical infrastructure.