Operationalizing Cyber Requires Collaboration

FAIRFAX, Va., June 17, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Adm. Michael S. Rogers, USN, commander, U.S. Cyber Command, and director of the National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service, sees collaboration between government agencies and industry as a key element to making the cyber domain "tangible" to commanders and policy makers. "It takes all of us working together to make this work. And then, it's that broader set of partnerships, particularly when we start to get to: How are you going to apply this capability outside the Department of Defense, if you're directed, for example, to provide capabilities to support critical infrastructure?" Adm. Rogers says.

The admiral will be speaking at AFCEA International's Cyber Symposium (www.afcea.org/events/cyber/14/intro.asp) June 24-25 at the Baltimore Convention Center. Other symposium keynote speakers include Suzanne Spaulding, undersecretary, National Protection and Programs Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Terry Halvorsen, chief information officer, acting, U.S. Defense Department.

Symposium panel discussion topics will address how to manage cyber risk as well as the topic of creating partnership capacity in cyberspace. A third panel featuring representatives from all five armed services is set to examine how to build trained and ready cyber teams that can prevent, shape and win confrontations in cyberspace.

"If we cannot operationalize this [cyber] mission set, we have failed ... our greatest challenge is how we make this something real and tangible that is integrated into a broader range of military operations, and that provides both policy makers as well as operational commanders with a wide range of operations for them to consider," Adm. Rogers states.

The Department of the Navy Information Technology (DON IT) East Coast Conference (www.afcea.org/events/cyber/14/donit.asp) will be co-located with the Cyber Symposium. The conference focuses on DON government, military and support contractor personnel and is open to all Defense Department personnel.

More than a dozen continuing education sessions (www.afcea.org/events/cyber/14/ceu.asp) that qualify for credits that support CompTIA or GIAC certifications will be offered in theater sessions on the exhibit floor throughout the symposium.

AFCEA International, established in 1946, is a nonprofit organization that provides its members with a forum for the ethical exchange of information. It is dedicated to increasing knowledge through the exploration of issues relevant to information technology, communications and electronics for global security. Join the professional association of choice online.

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SOURCE AFCEA International