Severely lacking military coordination and recruitment for U.S. cybersecurity efforts have prompted the Foundation for Defense of Democracies to urge Congress to immediately advance an independent Cyber Force that would ensure the country's cyber defense readiness, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Such a Cyber Force, which is recommended to be managed by the U.S. Army, should be given $16.5 billion to support nearly 10,000 workers, noted the nonpartisan think tank, which added that proper implementation would not be detrimental to military cyber forces working to transition to the dedicated body.
"Instead, cyber forces would gain more operational focus and direction while consolidating acquisition processes and maximizing budgetary effectiveness," the FDD report said.
However, the report did not address the Cyber Command 2.0 initiative advanced by the Department of Defense.
"The challenge is that there hasn't been a lot of transparency around what CYBERCOM 2.0 actually means," said report co-author Erica Lonergan.
DefenseScoop reports that the U.S. Space Force has begun evaluating the viability and design of an additional Cyber Command component with a new mission analysis team collaborating with Cyber Command and the National Security Agency.
Despite working on developing service components across its combatant commands since being established five years ago, the Space Force has held off on providing resources to Cyber Command due to prioritization of the Space Command, Central Command, and other existing commands, according to a Space Force spokesperson.
"No plans have been finalized regarding the standup of more components… implementation planning for future activations is ongoing… Like the other military services, the Space Force must prepare and present forces and personnel to every Combatant Command," said the spokesperson.
Such a development comes months after Space Force Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt noted that the force has been tackling a service component with the Cyber Command.
