Lynn: Cyber Pilot to Expand to Entire Defense Industrial Base

The Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security intend to expand a pilot cyber program focused on sharing classified threat intelligence with a select group of contractors in an effort to bolster industrial cyber defenses, Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn announced Aug. 16. About 20 companies already have volunteered to participate in the 90-day pilot program. Because of the pilot’s initial success, the government has decided to expand the program to the rest of the defense industrial base and other “key areas of critical infrastructure” in the coming months, he said during a Defense Information Systems Agency’s convention in Baltimore. “The government has a deep awareness of certain cyber threats. We have what some have termed a ‘special sauce’ of malicious code signatures gathered from various intelligence efforts,” he said. “Loading these signatures onto existing systems dramatically increases the effectiveness of cyber security.” Hundreds of attempted intrusions already have been stopped thanks to the pilot program, which also “appears to be cost effective,” he said. (Lynn transcript)