DECEMBER 9, 2024 – The United States has spent trillions of dollars on ensuring intelligence and the network that distributes that intelligence is the best on the planet, but more needs to be done, said Air Force Gen. Timothy D. Haugh, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, director, National Security Agency and chief, Central Security Service, in a discussion at the Reagan Defense Forum yesterday.
Intelligence is the lifeblood of defense strategy and a crucial aspect of deterrence. Haugh spoke during a panel hosted by New York Times reporter Julian Barnes. The panelists agreed that the United States does a good job of collecting intelligence and analyzing the intelligence but has shortcomings in ensuring that the people who need that information get it in a timely and effective form.
Competitors, of course, try to guard their intelligence and use all methods to find what the United States knows, Barnes stated to the general about Salt Typhoon — the Chinese government led hack aimed at North America and Southeast Asian targets. The hack — discovered by Microsoft — was not only aimed at companies, but high-level political figures.
Haugh said the hack — which some in the intelligence community called “mind-boggling” — is just one part of China’s global cyber program. “So that is an area that we have to continue to be able to educate our allies, our partners and the American people of what the [Chinese] intent is, whether it be coming at our critical infrastructure or intending to do collection through a large-scale series of operations against our telecommunications industry,” he said.
The National Security Agency is working with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI and industry partners on the threat Salt Typhoon poses. The agency did send out cyber security advisories in 2022 “that laid out this exact series of things that we had observed overseas,” the general said. His agency does not collect data in the United States.
“Our question now is … how do we bring the partnership together with industry so that we can together enhance early warning,” he said. “How do we bring our strengths to bear that [and] allow us to think collectively on how we defend U.S. infrastructure. I think that partnership with industry is the component.”
Haugh said the cooperation between his agency and tech industries has gotten better, but “how we do that in a timeline that gets us to outcomes that makes it more difficult for the [Chinese].”
One way may be the use of the enduring security framework that exists with CISA and NSA. This may help harden the collective telecommunications infrastructure.
Haugh did get asked about how well the NSA is doing in getting intel to the shooters. “One of the roles of the National Security Agency is we’re a combat support agency,” he said. “We are responsible as an element of the Department of Defense to enable military commanders.”
The question about effectiveness really needs to be directed to commanders downrange. “I think the test today would be to the commanders of the various ships that are operating in the Red Sea — how are we doing in informing their threat and their response,” he said. “We’re proud of the work that we do as a community.”
Commanders operating under Houthi threats and threats from other Iranian-backed groups have an understanding of the environment and indications of warning, he said. They are able to put their ships in position to deal with these threats.
“The other component that we’re doing every day is in ensuring that [U.S.] European Command in its role today in support of Ukraine,” he said. “My role is to make sure that from within the Department of Defense and within the nation, we’ve got an ability to deliver signals intelligence in a unified architecture to ensure that we’re getting maximum value for both military commanders and our policy makers.”
By Jim Garamone, DOD News