For the first time in three years, the DoD released a new formal cyber strategy document on September 18th.
The unclassified strategy summary states that the DoD “focus will be on the States that can post strategic threats to U.S. prosperity and security, particularly China and Russia.” It also says that China and Russia “have expanded competition to include persistent campaigns in and through cyberspace that post long-term strategic risk to the Nation as well as our allies and partners.” The summary also mentions that China has been persistently exfiltrating sensitive information from U.S. public and private sector institutions, and that Russia has used information to influence the U.S. population and challenge democratic processes.
The fact sheet summary lists the following objectives for the cyberspace strategy:
- Ensuring the Joint Force can achieve its missions in a contested cyberspace domain;
- Enhancing Joint Force military advantages through the integration of cyber capabilities into planning and operations;
- Deterring, preempting, or defeating malicious cyber activity targeting U.S. critical infrastructure that is likely to cause a significant cyber incident;
- Securing DoD information and systems, including on non-DoD-owned networks, against cyber espionage and malicious cyber activity;
- Expanding DoD cyber cooperation with allies, partners, and private sector entities.
The DoD says they have begun to address challenges and will constantly monitor strategy implementation tasks.