Both the full House and the Senate armed services committees have approved their respective versions of the annual defense bill mandating an independent evaluation into the viability of an independent cyber force, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
While more details regarding the Senate version of the legislation approved on Friday are yet to be released, the House version — which was unanimously passed by the House Armed Services Committee last month — would order the defense secretary to establish the Joint Force Headquarters-DOD Information Network under Cyber Command and create a hackathon program within the Defense Department, as well as impose a 25% cut on the secretary's project until the backlog of required cybersecurity studies is fulfilled.
Such developments come as Defense Department leaders emphasized the importance of bolstering the Cyber Command's capabilities before introducing a new cyber force.
"My sense is, at the end of the day, what we need is we need the Department of Defense to design, deliver, and deploy the most capable cyber forces that can deal with the threats today and in the future. And they should do it in the fastest time possible," said former Cyber Command and National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone.
