Hagel Touts Cyber Defense at Gen. Alexander Retirement Ceremony
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke Friday at the retirement ceremony for Gen. Keith Alexander as the head of the NSA.
In the new spirit of engaging the American public about what the agency does, the ceremony was touted as “the first ever live broadcast from the headquarters of NSA and Cybercom.” Of course that’s if you were watching the Pentagon Channel on your cable system.
Hagel’s speech praised the efforts of NSA and Cybercom in the nation’s defense. He noted that in the time it took for him to give his remarks the U.S. military’s computer network would have been probed about 50,000 times.
He said the military’s first responsibility in cyberspace is “to prevent and de-escalate conflict.” He said that the Department of Defense recognizes that “cyberspace will be a part of all future conflicts, and if we don’t adapt to that reality, our national security will be at great risk.”
Hagel emphasized that the military isn’t trying to militarize cyberspace but maintain “an approach of restraint to any cyber operations outside the U.S. Government networks. We are urging other nations to do the same.”
He closed his remarks by saying that in two years Cyber Command will number 6,000 personnel and he wants to see new recruits come from among those already in the ranks who might be looking for new opportunities.
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