Budget cuts and rapidly improving information technology are forcing the U.S. Defense Department to confront increasing cybersecurity demands without commensurate increases in available resources. Cybersecurity costs are increasing with both the complexity of new technologies and the worsening threat picture. However, solutions to this challenge do exist—if the Defense Department opts for new approaches.
One way of characterizing the current Defense Department situation is to view it as an inability to meet rising demands for systems without having adequate funding for cyberdefenses. Meanwhile, the costs of cybersecurity are rising. The progress in meeting increased cyberthreats is lagging, which is not acceptable.