Department of War Chief Information Officer Kirsten Davies delivers remarks at a CIO town hall at the Mark Center, Alexandria Va., Feb. 10, 2026. (DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza)
BALTIMORE — The Pentagon’s top IT officer is pushing for a more forceful and aggressive “foundational cybersecurity” posture, not just for the military, but for the contracting community as well, she said today.
“Our posture extends beyond our own digital networks into yours, our defense industrial base,” Department of Defense Chief Information Officer Kirsten Davie said at the TechNet Cyber conference here today. “A compromise at a small supplier can jeopardize a war fighter making a real time decision, and I don’t think that’s acceptable for any one of us in this room. That should make us all very uncomfortable, that that small of a compromise can impact a war fighter out at the edge. Let’s put a greater focus on our foundational cybersecurity.”
She noted that the security of the defense industrial base, the contractors and suppliers that provide the equipment for the department, is warfighter security as well because any compromise to those networks means the capabilities at the edge are affected as well. As a result, she expressed a desire to move beyond compliance.
