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US Struggles to Staff Cyber Defenсe ‘Red Teams' - Shanahan

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US military is having difficulty staffing so-called red teams, which conduct fake cyberattacks to expose vulnerabilities, because of competition from the private tech industry, acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan told Congress.
Sputnik

"Our biggest challenge with the red teams is keeping the people", Shanahan said. "They are so talented and there is such high demand that we get out-recruited, so anything we can do to generate capacity is extremely critical".

About a dozen Department of Defence red teams parachute into different installations throughout the country and conduct these attacks so we can assess vulnerabilities, Shanahan said.

The US defence chief added that installations augment red team efforts by identifying and targeting the most critical risks.

READ MORE: Pompeo Claims Russia Present in Latin America to Conduct Cyber Ops Against US

Cyber Assaults May Constitute ‘Armed Attack’ Under US-Japanese Treaty - Pompeo
Earlier in February, US National Intelligence Director Dan Coats stated that China and Russia pose the biggest cyber threats to the United States. Coats also said Russia had developed the capabilities to shut down US power and energy companies.

The United States ranked fifth out of 60 nations listed in its effective cyber security, according to the Global Cyber Security Index published in February.

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