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During the holidays, people around the world are going to receive computers, upgraded Internet access, video game consoles, MP3 players and many other gadgets and gizmos that will connect them to the wonders of the Internet. Many of these gifts will be ordered and paid for over the Internet. In addition to gift giving, there will be an upswing in charitable donations, and many will seek to spread holiday cheer via electronic means. At the same time, an international array of talented, unscrupulous and sometimes downright evil cyber criminals are gearing up to feast on this annual frenzy of online goodwill. The results won’t be pretty.

She also warns that post-quantum capabilities are nearer than people realize.

Individuals, communities, industry, and governments often neglect to plan for secure normal and contingency operations until a disaster strikes. Rather than planning them separately, why not plan normal operations, physical and cyber security, emergency preparedness and disaster recovery, and integrating renewable energy resources? Military and civilian operations on every level and every nation can benefit both before and after an emergency strikes from adopting industry and government best practices and available technologies available around the world today.

A different cybersecurity culture needs to be diffused throughout the Defense Department. It will have to view cyberdefenses not as a bandage to be selectively applied to a patchwork of applications. The new cybersecurity must become an inseparable feature of every computer technology that enables our operations.

The effort is meant to continue transformative change of the military’s information technology environment.