National Guard task force that supports Cyber Command changes over February 12 The 123rd Cyber Protection Battalion is taking its turn to support Task Force Echo V and U.S. Cyber Command.(Army Cyber Command) WASHINGTON The Army recently announced a new tranche of National Guard units to staff a critical and ongoing task force for U.S. Cyber Command. Members of the 123rd Cyber Protection Battalion made up of guardsmen from Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia and Wisconsin – relieved the 15-month deployment of the 124th Cyber Protection Battalion for Task Force Echo, an Army announcement said. The task force was described at its outset in 2017 as the largest mobilization of reserve forces in cyberspace, and to date over 600 National Guardsmen have been assigned to it. Now in its fifth iteration, soldiers will begin a 12-month deployment based at Fort Meade in Maryland.
Pentagon’s weapon tester pushes for better assessments of offensive cyber tools January 14 In its annual report, DOT&E outlined the challenges of assessing offensive cyber capabilities. (U.S. Cyber Command Public Affairs) WASHINGTON The Department of Defense weapon tester wants to improve the way the Pentagon assesses tools and capabilities for offensive cyber operations that disrupt or destroy enemy data systems. Such operations are growing more important, and testing that involves simulating realistic operations is not routine or rigorous enough to give commanders confidence the capabilities will work as designed, according to the annual report on weapons systems from the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation office.