Brad D. Williams covers cyber, networks, and emerging tech. He has worked as a journalist and tech writer for 20 years, much of that time focusing on cybersecurity. He began his career on the night desk at a daily newspaper and then spent a decade as a senior tech writer in security operations centers, on cyber red teams, and embedded with engineers building tech for the public and private sectors. In 2015, Brad started a business specializing in cybersecurity content strategy and development. He joined Fifth Domain: Cyber at the publication’s launch in 2017 and developed an enterprise beat covering cybersecurity strategy, policy, operations, and emerging tech. Brad holds a master's degree in English and technical cybersecurity certification. Outside of work, Brad is a member of the United States Chess Federation and writes literature.
bwilliams@breakingmedia.com
“Throughout the pandemic, US adversaries like China weaponized supply chain vulnerabilities in a way that threatened Americans’ health and security,” warned Rep. Mike Gallagher.
The current approach “is more akin to innovation tourism—with the DoD sampling the local fare of the United States’ various tech hubs—than a bona fide strategy for bringing emerging technologies into the department,” the report notes.
“I think it’s more than likely we’re going to end up, if we end up in a war – a real shooting war with a major power – it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach of great consequence, and it’s increasing exponentially,” President Biden said.
The markup comes at a pivotal moment for the US as it intensifies competition — while seeking to avoid conflict — with China, in particular, which senior department officials refer to as the US’s “pacing threat.”
“So what will happen is you’ll be destroying your grandmother’s computer in Kansas that has been taken over,” cyber policy expert Herb Lin said. “It’s not clear to me that that’s the best way.”
“It’s part of a larger diplomatic strategy,” cyber policy expert James Lewis said of the US attribution to China for Microsoft Exchange hacks earlier this year.
“The PRC’s pattern of irresponsible behavior in cyberspace is inconsistent with its stated objective of being seen as a responsible leader in the world,” a senior administration official said on Sunday night.
“CISA has validated various proofs of concept and is concerned that exploitation of this vulnerability may lead to full system compromise of agency networks if left unmitigated,” the emergency directive says.
Prototypes should provide “a radically new set of capabilities,” according to DISA. “This work has never been done before within the DoD and requires a novel approach.”
“It’s quite possible that if [the government] doesn’t get this right, then none of those companies will want to do business with government,” defense acquisition expert Bill Greenwalt told Breaking Defense. “That’s extremely problematic.”
