President Barack Obama has said in his final State of the Union address how al Qaeda and the Islamic State militant group promote terrorism through the Internet, FCW reported Tuesday.

“They use the Internet to poison the minds of individuals inside our country; they undermine our allies,” Obama said.

Aisha Chowdhry writes the president did not mention the issue of cybersecurity in his latest speech compared with his previous addresses, such as his call for the passage of cyber legislation in his 2015 speech.

Obama also cited the efforts of the U.S. government to fight the Islamic State organization.

“For more than a year, America has led a coalition of more than 60 countries to cut off ISIL’s financing, disrupt their plots, stop the flow of terrorist fighters, and stamp out their vicious ideology,” he said in his speech.

Maj. Gen. Mark Westergren — former deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command‘s Joint Functional Component Command for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance — has been appointed deputy chief of the National Security Agency‘s Central Security Service organization.

The Defense Department said Tuesday U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh assigned Westergren to his new role at CSS on Dec. 17.

CSS provides support to the cryptologic community across the U.S. military and is in charge of NSA’s signals intelligence and information assurance policy.

Westergren has served as deputy commander at JFCC-ISR since September 2014.

He has previously held other ISR leadership roles in the Air Force and served in several staff, command, operational and joint assignments in the U.S. and abroad.

Todd Weiler, founder and CEO of consulting firm One Hemisphere Ventures, will be nominated by President Obama to the role of assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs at the Defense Department, the White House announced Monday.

Weiler launched One Hemisphere Ventures in 2008 and worked as vice president at Computer World Services from 2009 to 2010.

He is also a former chief operating officer at Arrowpoint, which he co-owns, and chief information officer and vice president of the Communities in Schools organization.

Before he joined the private sector, Weiler served as the U.S. Army‘s deputy assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs for six years, acted as the White House’s liaison to DoD in 1993 and spent four years as an Army aviation officer.

His military career also includes service in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

The State Department has launched a new center staffed by public and private sector professionals who aim to counter disinformation from ISIS, al-Qaeda and other extremist groups through the use of computer-mediated tools.

The Global Engagement Center will collaborate with government organizations to create thematic campaigns across social media as well as coordinate counterterrorism messaging efforts aimed at foreign audiences, the department said Friday.

Michael Lumpkin, assistant defense secretary for special operations and low-intensity conflict, will serve as director of the engagement facility.

The State Department also seeks to empower a network of positive messengers and offer seed funds to nongovernmental organizations and media companies that can help stop the spread of violent extremism content through the center.

The facility will use data science and analytics technology to design, implement and evaluate social media campaigns against the ISIS group and develop strategies for public sector agencies to address domestic extremist movements.