The Pentagon is going to start assessments of whether its weapons are resistant to being hacked, instead of leaving that task to manufacturers, according to one senior U.S. Defense Department officials, Defense One reported.
Companies whose weapons are deemed to be vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks could lose their Pentagon contracts, said Kevin Fahey, the assistant secretary of defense for acquisition, Defense One noted.
Officials from the Pentagon's acquisition, intelligence, chief information officer and research-and-engineering offices are creating methods to test the cyber defenses of weapson when they are assessing bids.
"We have to develop a way that we evaluate people's capability in cyber security almost as a go, no-go versus it's a comparison between cost, schedule and performance of cyber," Fahey said, Defense One reported.
Having the government furnish equipment that is cyber secure to businesses is a "high priority" idea, Fahey said at the briefing.
Officials say that requiring cyber-secure weapons as part of a competition for bids will make companies do better at protecting their systems.
"If it becomes a competitive differentiator, then what ends up happening is you've got every incentive in the world to meet that standard and to use it because it's something that you need to be successful," said Eric Chewning, deputy assistant secretary of defense for manufacturing and industrial base policy, Defense One reported.
National Intelligence Director Dan Coats on Friday said the warning signs about cyber threats to U.S. national security are "blinking red."
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