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Gen. Alexander: DoD networks ‘not defensible’

Gen. Keith Alexander, head of both the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, says defense networks are not defensible from cyber attacks. His plan fo...

Federal News Network Staff

January 17, 2012 3:58 pm

< a min read

Here’s a scary thought: The general in charge of protecting the Defense Department’s networks — Gen. Keith Alexander, head of both the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command — says those networks are not defensible.

To make matters even worse, he told an FBI-sponsored gathering that if the country is hit by a major cyber attack, “there may not be much he and his men can legally do to stop it in advance,” according to a post on Wired magazine’s Danger Room.

However, Alexander does have a plan to get the networks back on track. According to Danger Room, he wants to drastically consolidate the number of military networks, data centers and help desks into a more manageable number. He also wants to move towards cloud computing, which he says is both cheaper and easier to defend.

This story is part of Federal News Radio’s daily Cybersecurity Update. For more cybersecurity news, click here.