The U.S. Marine Corps received a new task to lead a global mission to deter operations of terrorist groups in the cyberspace, Fifth Domain reported Thursday. 

Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command leads the Joint Task Force-Ares mission, which launches cyber counter-offensive operations against the Islamic State group. Maj. Gen. Matthew Glavy, commander of MARFORCYBER, said the command is coordinating efforts with the Central Command and the Operation Inherent Resolve as part of the task force. 

MARFORCYBER also took on the lead to provide planning, targeting, intelligence and cyber capabilities for combatant commands under the Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber. The new Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber Marines assists the Special Operations Command in counterterrorism operations, including disrupting the financial, messaging and networks of terrorists.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Pentagon should continue investting in new technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, quantum computing and directed energy weapons, to retain U.S. dominance across all domains, National Defense Magazine reported Thursday. Dunford said that the U.S. is in a great power competition with Russia and China, which both are investing in weapons to undermine the ability to project power and operate across domains.

“I’m confident that today, the United States can deter a nuclear war. I’m confident today that we can protect the homeland and I’m confident today that we have a competitive advantage over any potential adversary,” he said in an interview with National Defense Industrial Association CEO Hawk Carlisle and National Defense Magazine Managing Editor Jon Harper.

Dunford said the Department of Defense hopes to secure funding for fiscal year 2020 to help the military sustain the competitive advantage in land, sea, air, space and cyber domains. He noted the funding should prioritize space and cyberspace as it is now critical to establish superiority in the electromagnetic spectrum. Partnerships with the private sector is also another area that DoD should put more attention, the general said. 

“It’s impossible for me to imagine … us maintaining a competitive advantage in the future unless we have a very unique and close relationship with industry,” he said. 

Dunford has been recognized with NDIA’s Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for efforts to increase public awareness of the U.S. national defense.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., will co-chair a commission intended to assess and address the cyber threats facing the country. The Cyberspace Solarium Commission consists of 14 members working to build cyber policy on recommendations, hearings, intelligence and homeland security discussions, King’s office said Thursday. The group’s establishment stems from the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.

“Through the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, we’ll work to build a foundation that will not only defend our nation against ongoing cyber-attacks but also prevent attacks by adversaries who are considering launching assaults on our essential digital infrastructure,” King said.

The commission will regularly administer meetings to assess cyber threats from state and non-state parties, and identify ways to cybersecure citizens and sectors that make the country.

The 12 other CSC members are:

• Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.
• Chris Inglis, cybersecurity studies professor at U.S. Naval Academy
• Chris Wray, FBI director
• David Norquist, acting deputy secretary of defense
• David Pekoske, acting deputy secretary of homeland security
• Frank Cilluffo, director of Auburn University’s McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security
• Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I.
• Patrick Murphy, former undersecretary of the U.S. Army
• Samantha Ravich, vice chair of the president’s intelligence advisory board
• Susan Gordon, deputy director of national intelligence
• Suzanne Spaulding, senior advisor for homeland security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Tom Fanning, chairman, president and CEO of the Southern Company

A bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission calling for increased focus on security for the 5G network, which the Trump administration wants to introduce nationwide. “As our U.S. network operators, from the largest to the smallest, gear up for significant infrastructure buildout for 5G and other advanced technologies, security should be a critical consideration and associated rules and regulations should be as clear as possible,” reads the letter issued Thursday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. 

The lawmakers expressed confidence that the FCC is “well-positioned” to address the challenges facing the 5G security. They said the agency could secure the supply chain that provides equipment and software for communications networks as the government prepares to utilize high speed internet. 

FCC announced in April that it will focus on national security, emergency preparedness, next-generation 911 and the reliability of communications systems and infrastructure under the 5G program. The agency will establish a Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council to oversee deployment of the high speed network. 

Despite providing training and implementing new approaches to prepare federal employees to take on cybersecurity roles, the government continues to face challenges building and retaining its cyber workforce, FCW reported Thursday. Information technology officials from different agencies raised concerns with the effectiveness of the new cyber workforce executive order. 

“What I’m not sure how much will get addressed with the executive order is, what about retention?” Shane Barney, chief information security officer of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said at a recent Government CIO conference. 

The government provides “some really great things” like incentives to attract and retain employees. However, Barney cited he still sees people not taking any cyber-related job after training. “I’m sure any CISO or any CIO could tell you the horror stories of that exact same experience,” he said. “It really hurts us. And that’s a difficult gap to breach.”

Beth Killoran, deputy chief information officer at the General Services Administration, said employees tend to seek other opportunities as the government fails to meet the needs of new workers. 

“If we can either show folks that we can improve their skillset or show folks they’ll have opportunities they’re not going to have at a different agency or the private sector, that’s what’s going to keep them,” she said.