By Prashanth Parameswaran
US defense secretary Ash Carter delivers major speech at Stanford University.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter unveiled the Pentagon’s new cyber strategy and made the case for greater collaboration between the government and the private sector during today’s speech in Silicon Valley.
In an address at Stanford University entitled “Rewiring the Pentagon: Charting a New Path on Innovation and Cybersecurity,” Carter began by calling for an “open partnership” between the commercial, civilian and government realms, including “rebuilding the bridge” between the Pentagon and Silicon Valley. The partnership, Carter said, was “the only way forward” given the massive proliferation of technology and the aggressive competition for global talent.
To set the stage for what such a partnership would look like, Carter then moved to expand on the Department of Defense’s (DOD) work in two areas, namely innovation and cybersecurity. The section on cybersecurity has been receiving the most attention over the past week, particularly since the speech was timed with the release of the Pentagon’s new cyber strategy. Carter said the DOD had three missions, namely defending its own networks against threats, defending the nation from severe threats abroad, and engaging in offensive cyber operations. The offensive dimension has been the one grabbing the headlines in recent days, since this is where a greater emphasis is perceived to lie relative to the prior strategy. In his remarks, Carter stressed that Washington’s preference for deterrence and defense should not be incorrectly interpreted by its adversaries as meaning that it was not prepared to go on the offense as well.
Read the full story at The Diplomat