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Army Cyber Innovation

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

What is it?

The U.S. Army, in support of the Department of Defense (DOD) Cyber Strategy, is developing new cyber innovations. These initiatives will help realize the Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s vision of developing innovative solutions to problems in the cyber domain via greater collaboration between DOD and its partners in industry and academia.

What has the Army done?

Taking a cue from DOD’s call to action, the Army conducted its first Cyber Innovation Challenge program in 2015, employing a flexible acquisition model to allow industry partners to deliver prototype solutions for rapid evaluation. The Army Cyber Innovation Challenge concluded with agreements with vendors to provide Deployable Defensive Cyberspace Operations Infrastructure kits to support Army cyber protection teams. The current second iteration of Army Cyber Innovation Challenge is aimed at technology designed to help commanders assess cyber threats to their missions.

What continued efforts have been planned for the future?

The Army is developing a strong partnership with the private sector, the academic and research institutions. The purpose is to discover and validate new ideas for cybersecurity for the Army and for the country as a whole. U.S. Army Cyber Command and Second Army is building on the success of the Cyber Innovation Challenge program with two new initiatives:

(1) Silicon Valley Innovation Pilot- Ten Army cyber professionals are being teamed with 10 Silicon Valley partners to develop innovative approaches to complex cyber problems such as how to counter adversarial social media.

(2) Hacking4Defense Program at Stanford University- This program will present 20 problem statements from DOD and the U.S. intelligence community to Stanford students. The students will apply “lean startup principles” to create solutions and prototype products. One of those problem statements is Army Cyber Command’s countering adversaries’ use of social media.

Why is this important to the Army?

The Army recognizes that while attacks in cyberspace are becoming increasingly sophisticated, they do not always originate from military sources. The dangers they pose often threaten institutions outside the defense community as well. To address these threats requires employing fast-moving, innovative approaches to developing and acquiring shared solutions. The Army must work with partners to harness academic, industry and allies’ capabilities to assist in achieving its vision.

Resources:

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