Katie Arrington Cites the Importance of Non-Kinetic Warfare
On the second day of TechNet Cyber, held in Baltimore, keynote speaker Katie Arrington, who is performing the duties of chief information officer (PTDO CIO), cited the importance of non-kinetic warfare and emphasized the importance of zero trust, Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), and the newly announced Software Fast Track (SWFT) Initiative.
“I will tell you, the Pentagon and I may not agree on everything. I don’t believe that investing as much as we do in kinetic is really all that beneficial because we're in a non-kinetic war,” she said. “We are at war in the cyber realm, in the non-kinetic realm, and if we are not doing our best job in the non-kinetic, then we must use kinetic in response.”
Arrington also warned that transformative change—especially around post-quantum computing and encryption—is approaching much sooner than expected.
“People that think that post-quantum computing is in 2035, I think you're dead wrong,” she said. “I think the post-quantum encryption capability and post-quantum compute is nearer than people realize. I think that the way that we have been doing things in the past, by just checking the box, isn't sufficient, and that we have to motivate ourselves to do better.”
She emphasized the importance of both CMMC and SWFT, which aim to accelerate software delivery.
Arrington signed a memo on April 24 titled “Accelerating Secure Software,” which establishes the SWFT Initiative, reforming the way the Defense Department acquires, tests and authorizes secure software.
“We have got to get software faster into the Department of Defense. The Valley of Death is killing industry. So, what did we do? We put the SWFT memo out,” said Arrington. “That program will be implemented starting June 1, 2025, so that we in the government can get to software faster.”
“We are not stopping. We are not slowing down, not for a second,” she said.
I think the post-quantum encryption capability and post-quantum compute is nearer than people realize.
The CMMC Program verifies that defense contractors are compliant with existing protections for federal contract information and controlled unclassified information. “CMMC started in Trump One; it will finish and start and be implemented in Trump Two,” she said.
Arrington also stressed the importance of teamwork, innovation and legislative engagement to enhance the DOD's cybersecurity posture.
Arrington’s keynote at TechNet Cyber took place as President Donald Trump nominated Kirsten Davies to be the chief information officer of the DOD. If confirmed, Davies will assume the position from Arrington, who has been performing the duties of the DOD CIO since March.
TechNet Cyber is organized by AFCEA International. SIGNAL Media is the official media of AFCEA International.
