ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center
SOURCE: Federal News Radio
28February2011 7:30amEST
GCIS CYBER-SECURITY UPDATE: The U.S. Cyber Command may be operational, but it's lacking a crucial component - situational awareness.
Brig. Gen. John Davis, director of current operations for the Defense Department's Cyber Command, 
said situational awareness has been his number one challenge from the start.
DoD launched Cyber Command in November. With components in each organization, it is responsible for shielding 15,000 military networks.
Davis spoke Wednesday at a forum of industry leaders during a conference sponsored by the Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Association. He said while situational awareness isn't fully operational, Cyber Command does have some pieces in place and have put a lot of thought into the type of system needed to complete the project.
"In terms of where we're headed, we've outlined some effects-based operational requirements that we think are our near-term priorities," Davis said. "So these are going to drive us. And we always translate it back to our operational requirements to drive where we're headed with situational awareness."
Davis said even though he focuses on Cyber Command - specific requirements, there are common threads between government and private sectors when it comes to cybersecurity concerns and needs.
"We all share the same infrastructure," Davis said. "Ninety percent of what I use to do military missions across DoD rides on the commercial infrastructure. You can't separate this stuff out - it's all interconnected. So there should be a lot of common threads that run throughout what I need as a military commander and what you all are seeing." (read full report)
