At the Defense Department, a common catchphrase, "boiling the ocean," is often used as a euphemism for over-exerting time or resources to fix a given problem. Many DoD officials have called for a change in thinking when it comes to operating in cyberspace, but can that happen without the proverbial ocean-boiling?
Lt. Gen. Edward Cardon, commander of Army Cyber Command, says yes. In fact, according to Cardon, the Army already is setting in motion changes to institutional thinking in acquisition, in how cyber teams are seen and organized, and in tackling large-scale problems in the innovative way a Silicon Valley startup might.
Cardon, speaking March 15 at the AUSA Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, referred to comments from Chris Lynch, DoD's new digital services chief, as an example of how leaders want to evolve cyber thinking.
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"Chris Lynch said that every day code stays at rest and it becomes more vulnerable. If you aren't changing your code every day, you're becoming more vulnerable. We don't think that way," Cardon said. "We are making strides…we're moving toward open architectures in some areas, and we may need to move faster in some areas."
Beyond that, Cardon said the walls between cyber offense and cyber defense are beginning to come down as what were two separate areas become more cohesive in their operations.
"My teams aren't offense or defense, they're a cyber team," he said.
But how does that concept scale beyond just Army Cyber Command, or even beyond just the Army? Cardon acknowledged it's not an easy undertaking, but he pointed to the battlefield as a prime example of where to start.
"Ultimately, my experience in the Army is you identify problems at the operational edge, gaps and then the institution works on them. Often you'll see the adaptation at the edge first, but the institution will jump on it eventually," Cardon said. "But to be able to harness that system that's delivering the capabilities – and I don't mean all the discussion in Congress about acquisition and buying things, I'm talking capabilities, because capabilities can be about much more than buying something – that's the part we have to get to. And I believe we're organized now to do that; it's just about getting the velocity."
