WASHINGTON — Tucked in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s annual defense policy bill is a provision to partner the US government with civilian hackers who experts and former military officials say could help the US tip the scales against China’s far deeper bench of cyber operators.
The committee seeks to authorize a pilot program that would assess the feasibility of conducting cyber operations limited to gaining access to systems using civilian contractors with their own infrastructure, but still under the operational direction and authority of US Cyber Command. It’s not clear the provision will become law, as the Senate and House must reconcile their versions of the National Defense Authorization Act before passing each chamber and receiving the president’s signature.
But the fact that this is being introduced is significant, according to nine experts who spoke with Breaking Defense. Some experts raised concerns that deputizing civilian hackers could trigger reprisals against civilian infrastructure and flout international norms; others see the provision as a chance to expand the US government’s cyber ranks and lean on America’s private sector advantage over China.
“I am hopeful this is indicative that inside the Department of War, but also up on Capitol Hill, people understand that we need to move towards a much closer relationship with the private sector,” Charlie Moore, distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University and former deputy commander of CYBERCOM, told Breaking Defense in an interview. “We have to move beyond what we typically call partnerships and into becoming true teammates. The only way we’re going to scale to meet the qualitative and quantitative capabilities that we need against the likes of China is through close teamwork with the private sector.”
