Department of Defense’s new cyber security strategy will significantly impact contract awards

Nov. 19, 2018
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) HAS released its 2018 cyber security strategy, which has significantly evolved since its last release in 2015. Just like the DOD expects quality from its suppliers, it also expects suppliers’ products and services to be secure. Washington Business Journal reports.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) HAS released its 2018 cyber security strategy, which has significantly evolved since its last release in 2015. Just like the DOD expects quality from its suppliers, it also expects suppliers’ products and services to be secure. Washington Business Journal reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

19 Nov. 2018 -- “Cyber security is probably going to be what we call the fourth critical measurement. You know, we’ve got quality, cost, schedule,” says Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan.

“Security is one of those measures that we need to hold people accountable for. And it shouldn’t be that being secure comes with a big bill," he says. "Like we wouldn’t pay extra for quality, we shouldn’t pay extra for security. We’re in a new world, and security is the standard, it’s the expectation, it’s not something that’s above and beyond what we’ve done before.”

Shanahan’s statements reinforce the expectation that security should not be looked at as an afterthought, but already built-in to the product and services they provide the DOD. In the future, higher levels of proven security will be necessary in order to win DOD contracts. Those prime and subcontractors that are not compliant with security standards will not be able to win business.

Related: Five organizations working with DARPA to develop design tools for cyber security and trusted computing

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Related: Decomposing system security to prevent cyber attacks in trusted computing architectures

John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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