Navy Adm. James Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday the Defense Department plans to spend $23 billion on cybersecurity programs between 2014 and 2018, the American Forces Press Service reports.
Karen Parrish writes the four-year plan includes funds for 4,000 cyber operations personnel.
“Almost every element of our national security capability has an element of information technology at its heart,†Winnefeld said at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association’s Joint Warfighter Day in Tysons Corner, Va.
“The brains belong to our warfighters, but the nerves are the network,†he added.
Winnefeld also told the audience U.S. Cyber Command has designated one cyber team to defend “dot-gov” and “dot-com” domains, a second team to help combatant commanders carry out missions and a third team to operate and defend military networks.
