How cyberspace makes the DoD think differently

U.S. Cyber Command has made it clear that it must undertake traditional and nontraditional partnerships in order to succeed in a highly dynamic environment.

In the latest example of fostering greater partnership, Cyber Command has begun to post malware samples as a means of improving global cybersecurity.

The new effort — run by the Cyber National Mission Force, a Cyber Command element charged with deterring and disrupting cyberspace operations to defend the nation — will share unclassified CNMF-discovered malware to VirusTotal, according to a Nov. 5 news release. The CNMF has also established a Twitter feed associated with the effort.

This effort is just one of many that reinforce how Cyber Command’s leadership has been beating the drum for collaboration.

“We work with partners consistently to ensure that they adapt — adapt in their technologies, their tools and their approaches," Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of Cyber Command, said during a speech at the beginning of October.

“This idea of a posture of persistent innovation across all our partnerships is critical to counter our adversaries.”

Cyber Command’s deputy commander, Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, told Congress in September that the command has learned over the past year or so that growing the force demands persistent engagement, persistent presence and a persistent innovative spirit. Failure to do any of these means DoD can never compete against near-peer competitors in cyberspace.

Across the DoD, others are also continuing to partner in new ways to ensure greater security. The Air Force kicked off its third bug bounty program in two years.

The third iteration will run from Oct. 19, 2018, to Nov. 22, 2018, according to the eligibility rules posted by HackerOne, one of the industry partners.

The new program will focus on Department of Defense applications that were recently moved to a cloud environment owned by the Air Force.

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