Defense secretary nominee: US 'not where it should be' on cybersecurity

The Defense Department's network security “is not where it should be,” said Ashton Carter, the nominee for Defense secretary, during his nomination hearing.

“We’re not anywhere near where we should be as a country,” Carter said. “Not only is our civilian infrastructure susceptible to cyberattack, but we have to be concerned about our military infrastructure.” “There’s no point in having planes and ships and armored vehicles in today’s world if the network itself is vulnerable,” Carter said. “I hope we can work together if I’m confirmed by this committee on improving our cyber defenses, many aspects of cyber.” Carter emphasized the need for the DOD and private sector to exchange more cyber threat information. “I think if people fully understood ... how vulnerable we are in cyberspace, they would want us to do more,” Carter said. “Not in a way that compromised anybody’s privacy, but they would want us to do a lot more than I believe we are doing now."