US Cyber Command is extending its protective protocols beyond the “dot mil” domains to the networks of some defense companies, according to US Strategic Command’s commander, Gen. Robert Kehler. A pilot program is under way to extend CYBERCOM protection to “parts of the industrial base,” Kehler told defense reporters Tuesday in Washington, D.C. “We are seeing some good success” with the effort and it will be “extended for a period of time,” he said. CYBERCOM is a sub-unified command aligned under STRATCOM.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.