In an attempt to prioritize missions, the Pentagon introduces ‘Scorecard’ System to fight cyber criminality. The new system will see both old and new vulnerabilities, while prioritizing them, based on the national threats they pose.
The Pentagon has finally come up with a plan to prevent cyber criminality. The strategies have been but slightly hinted during the recent presentation of the ‘Scorecard’ system at the annual Billington Cybersecurity Summit.
According to Air Force Lieutenant General Kevin McLaughlin the plan had to be approved months ago, but preparations have taken longer than expected. The new system will be centered on a comprehensive military database containing data about possible system threats.
These are vulnerabilities that hackers could use to enter the national system; therefore, they should be immediately addressed to prevent stolen data. Unfortunately, the US Military lacks the necessary resources to centralize all the data and solve threats at the same time.
As a consequence, the threats will be prioritized, based on the risks they pose and on the efforts that officials need to make to treat them. The ‘scorecard’ system will be created manually at first and then, perfected with the help of special computer programs.
McLaughlin takes great confidence in the new ‘scorecard’ program. He has explained that the prioritized information will also give officials hints on how to solve the respective cyber threat. By creating an automated database, it will also be easier for U.S. Departments to exchange information among them, the Lieutenant has added.
The ‘scorecard’ system has been suggested long ago when Pentagon officials have stated that weapon platforms have to be secured against all cyber-attacks. Representatives declared back then that cyber threats have become widely spread and the US Military needs to be able to respond to them accordingly.
The first weapon platforms to be secured against cyberattacks are, according to the Pentagon, earlier programs created approximately 30 years ago. Their platform is too outdated to include protection against new cyber threats; therefore, they will be the first to be protected. Next on the ‘scorecard’ system are the newer platforms that do not meet the necessary requirements.
The Pentagon has already prepared 133 teams for cyber responses, each one of them consisting of 6,200 individuals. These groups will start their activity by the end of 2016.
Image source: www.wsj.net