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 Kristina Harrington, director of the signals intelligence
directorate at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), said
acquisition programs typically take about two years to initiate and
execute, but rapidly changing threats in the cyber domain require a
different approach.
"The current acquisition process is not fast enough to keep up with
the speed (of the threat)," Harrington said at a space and cyber
conference hosted by the Space Foundation. "Two years after we
started is too late in the cyber industry."
Harrington and other government and industry speakers underscored
their concerns about growing and increasingly sophisticated attacks
on U.S. computer networks and said the Pentagon was working hard to
beef up cybersecurity.
Their comments came the same day that the U.S. government charged
five Chinese military officers, accusing them of hacking into
American nuclear, metal and solar companies to steal trade secrets,
These are the first criminal hacking charges filed by Washington
against specific foreign individuals.
Harrington told reporters after the panel that the NRO, which
designs, builds and operates U.S. spy satellites for the U.S.
military and intelligence communities, was looking at using umbrella
contracts with a range of companies that would give it more
flexibility to order specific work as threats arose.
She said the agency was historically focused on buying, fielding and
operating the best satellites in the world, but the ground networks
used to operate them needed more attention because they were
increasingly complex and had become a growing target of cyber
attacks.
She said she understood that lawmakers need to carefully oversee
acquisition programs, but said rapid changes in the cyber world
meant the government needed more flexibility to respond than the
current acquisition system offered.
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U.S. weapons programs are subject to many complex regulations and
oversight processes aimed at addressing the cost
overruns, schedule delays and other issues that have plagued defense
acquisition programs for decades.
Harrington and other officials argue that the cyber domain is
fundamentally different and requires different rules than those
applied to fighter jets, warships and missiles.
"We need to be looking at a different way of doing things,"
Harrington said during her panel discussion, adding that private
industry was increasingly driving change in the cyber realm.
William Marion, chief technology officer for Air Force Space
Command, said the Pentagon had undertaken a comprehensive review of
cybersecurity issues across the department and was beginning to make
changes, but current acquisition rules and oversight still slowed
its ability to respond.
Executives at smaller companies say the Pentagon's bureaucracy also
makes it difficult for them to bid for cybersecurity contracts,
which tend to be dominated by big firms like Boeing Co, Lockheed
Martin Corp and Raytheon Co.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Matt Driskill)
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