Army Gen. Keith Alexander, US Cyber Command boss, gave the Defense Department a “C” grade on Wednesday when asked during a Congressional oversight hearing how he’d judge the Pentagon’s ability to protect its thousands of networks from attack. “We have made tremendous progress over the last two years in training the force and hardening the networks. I’d like to say an ‘A,’ but I think it will take us some time to get to an ‘A,'” Alexander told the House Armed Services Committee’s emerging threats and capabilities panel. A top grade will happen only when the Pentagon can stop everyone from penetrating the networks, Alexander said. However, he acknowledged “we’ve already made it extremely hard for anyone to break through our network.” Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) said during the hearing it’s going to take “a lot more money” before the Pentagon will find itself on the dean’s list. “It’s the welfare of the people that’s at stake,” Johnson said.
As commercial companies, universities, and research agencies develop new approaches to operating satellites at lower and lower altitudes, the Space Force is taking notice and considering how it might leverage those advances in both the near and long term.