Pentagon Plans $500 Million Seed Capital for Cyber Technologies CollaborationFebruary 25, 2011
 The Pentagon plans to launch a $500 million effort to research new cyber-security technologies, according to Bloomberg News. The focus will be on a range of technologies, including cloud computing and encrypted data processing, deputy defense secretary William Lynn told Bloomberg. The new strategy, called Cyber 3.0, involves military collaboration with commercial companies to harness the latest technologies and the most sophisticated experts to protect Pentagon computer networks from attacks, sabotage and espionage, said Lynn. He emphasized that the military plays just one part in defending its cyber space, according to Bloomberg. "Cyber defense is not a military mission, like defending our airspace, where the sole responsibility lies with the military," Lynn said. "The overwhelming percentage of our nation's critical infrastructure — including the Internet itself — is largely in private hands. It is going to take a public-private partnership to secure our networks." The Defense Department (DoD) is working with the Department of Homeland Security to secure the nation's electrical grid and financial systems. "Secure military networks will matter little if the power grid is cut or the rest of the government stops functioning." The DoD is working with Intel, Google and Microsoft to secure the country's cyber defenses. The Pentagon will seed targeted companies with capital to develop dual-use technologies for cyber- security needs. The $500 million will come from the DoD's 2012 budget request of $2.3 billion earmarked for cyber defenses, according to Bloomberg. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, will manage the funding. The idea is to develop "active defenses" that can detect attacks and probes as they try to intrude rather than after-the-fact detection and notification, Lynn said. |
|
