Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has said the U.S. National Guard‘s cyber squadrons could be called upon to participate in the campaign against the Islamic State militant group, Reuters reported Sunday.
Andrea Shalal writes the squadrons will take part in the government’s effort to assess potential cybersecurity gaps in U.S. industrial infrastructure.
Carter said at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington, the National Guard’s 262nd squadron could engage in cyber missions in the future, according to the report.
“Units like this can also participate in offensive cyber operations of the kind that I have stressed we are conducting, and actually accelerating, in Iraq and Syria, to secure the prompt defeat of ISIL, which we need to do and will do,” Carter added.
The 262nd squadron is a group of 101 people that includes employees from Microsoft and Google, Reuters reports.
