Category Archives: Adm. Mike Rogers

Norton takes over Pentagon’s network defense headquarters and DISA

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On the same day U.S. Cyber Command’s network defense headquarters became fully operational, Navy Vice Adm. Nancy A. Norton assumed command of the Joint Force Headquarters – Department of Defense Information Network (JFHQ-DODIN) and became director of of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) on Thursday. Lt. Gen. Alan Lynn retired this week as director of DISA. Norton’s command began at a ceremony Fort Meade in Maryland, the home of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency and DISA among other agencies. “I look at this audience and I think to myself, ‘Man, if you are doing anything in [information technology], networks, cyber … you are here today,” Adm. Mike Rogers, director of the NSA and Cyber Command, said at the opening of the ceremony. Norton reports directly to Rogers. Rogers will retire this spring after a tumultuous four year command. Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone, currently the head of U.S. Army Cyber Command, is expected to […]

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Trump orders that U.S. Cyber Command receive new authority to conduct cyberwarfare

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President Donald Trump announced Friday that U.S. Cyber Command will be elevated to a unified combatant command, making it the 10th such organization with the operational authority to conduct military operations abroad under the purview of the secretary of Defense and the White House. Trump’s decision to elevate Cyber Command now requires that Secretary of Defense James Mattis conduct a review to determine whether Cyber Command should be separated from its Fort Meade neighbor and partner organization, the National Security Agency. Cyber Command is currently led by NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers. While in that dual-hat role as the leader of both forces, he has consistently advocated for the elevation of Cyber Command. There’s bipartisan support on Capitol Hill to provide Cyber Command with greater operational authority and additional resources, but the question of whether the organization should be divided from NSA remains more difficult for Congress to answer. Until now, the […]

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70 percent of U.S. Cyber Command force teams now ‘fully operational’

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Eight months after all 133 of U.S. Cyber Command’s Cyber Mission Force teams reached initial operating capability, 70 percent of the force’s teams are “fully operational capable,”Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford testified on Tuesday before the House Armed Services Committee. “They’ve had all the manning, they have all the training, they’re fully operational capable,” Dunford said. “But I think none of us are complacent with where we are in cyberspace given the number of threats we face every day. We need to defend the network, develop effective offensive tools and be in a position to grow the force.” The Cyber Mission Force teams are tasked with defending Defense Department networks (68 teams), supporting military objectives (27 teams), providing analytic support to combat missions (25 teams) and defending U.S. critical infrastructure (13 teams). Cyber command was first stood up in 2009, yet the mission force teams were first added in 2015. Dunford […]

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NSA’s Rogers asks for big budget bump to separate U.S. Cyber Command

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The nation’s top cyberwarrior bluntly told a House panel Tuesday that it would take a 16 percent increase in U.S. Cyber Command’s budget to separate it from the NSA and become a full-fledged combatant command, as lawmakers want. “To execute our mission I have asked for a budget of $647 million, which is a nearly 16 percent increase from 2017,” Adm. Michael Rogers told a hearing of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities convened by Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to examine the fiscal 2018 request for Cyber Command. Rogers, who leads Cyber Command and is also NSA director, said the money would be spent “building out” the command’s cyber fighting units, called Cyber Mission Forces, and other cyber-specific capabilities. The 6,200-strong CMF is on track to be fully operational by Oct. 1 next year, he said. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2017 mandated the elevation of Cyber Command — which […]

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U.S. intel officials slam Kaspersky while CEO calls fears of Russian influence ‘unfounded conspiracy theories’

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Eugene Kaspersky, the namesake and CEO of the famed cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab, spent Thursday refuting accusations that his Moscow-based cybersecurity company could be used to spy on key U.S. systems, as the idea continued to circulate in Washington. At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday morning, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked top American intelligence officials if any of them would use Kaspersky products, which are found on computers throughout the U.S., including those of major businesses. “A resounding no from me,” Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats testified. Every one of the witnesses, including acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and Adm. Mike Rogers, who runs the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, agreed. Earlier this week, several outlets had reported increasing concerns about American officials that Russian spies could use Kaspersky Lab’s software or personnel against American interests. Kaspersky himself hosted a question-and-answer session on Reddit’s /r/IAmA forum Thursday, and all of the top questions addressed the […]

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