DOD's Creation of Cyber Command

Hey I got some input as to what the DoD should be thinking about as they attempt to build out the new Cyber Command. Here are a few suggestions.

First of all what should be the most important initiatives the Cyber Command should look to accomplish by this Fall?

I feel the most difficult to achieve is not the security but rather gaining support and trust of all agencies that will be affected by this. I would aim to first win the support of all agencies and have them become stakeholders in the plan, execution, monitoring and success of the new command.

Do we feel that the Government's overall cyber security plan is becoming fractured with all of the different agencies (and leaders) with disparate goals or is there harmony between all of the moving pieces?

Hey it's our government of course! If this is how it's starting out then each agency is going to have its own mini cyber command and disparate systems once more. This is common within US govt agencies. One of the good things that comes out of this however is that the hackers cannot use the same tactics to gain access to ALL agencies. So following a 'standard' for all agencies might not be a bad strategy.

In the end of it all what should be the most important element to the success of Cyber Command? Funding? Clear vision? Resources? People?

I think they are all important but the priority and sequence is most important. First selecting the right people to undertake this task should come before anything else. Then comes the vision, then strategy how to execute then funding.

"Cyber attacks" has been a subject brought up with the Cyber Command and also by the UK's cyber security head; do we think this should be a prominent and public goal of any government cyber initiative?

Duh what is the Goal? I don't think anyone has figured this out yet. Hence a vision needs to be made and bought in. What are we protecting and from who? Does data loss not fall under cyber attack? Is the Cyber Command so short minded that they are only thinking of bad guys from the outside? Maybe I am needed in Washington. Obama please call me ;-)

And where and what is the most pertinent cyber threat to the United States today?

Depends if you are asking about the ones we hear about or the ones they don't want use to know about? I' ve presented at many different forums around the world and my biggest fear is not that a hacker or someone with computer skills is going to steal data, it's those individuals that can possibly come together, target a country, and take down it's infrastructure that we have become so dependent on.

The Dod Cyber Command is something I truly believe needs to come together and I am glad that we have a President that is thinking ahead on this threat.