Pentagon Moves to Embed Cyber Into All Military Operations
The Defense Department's top cyber policy official said Tuesday that the Pentagon is working to integrate cyber capabilities into every operation and build security into artificial intelligence systems from the start, not as an afterthought.
Katherine Sutton, assistant secretary for cyber policy and principal cyber adviser at DOD, said recent conflicts have demonstrated how critical cyber becomes when paired with physical force. "Information is becoming more and more important on the battlefield," she said at the GDIT Emerge conference. "Having the ability to integrate space, cyber and other non-kinetic effects to degrade that information advantage is going to be critical and foundational to any future conflicts."
The department has undergone a cultural shift on cyber's importance since the Iran conflict and the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, defense officials have noted.
Breaking Down Silos
Sutton emphasized that cyber must move out of isolation in military planning. "We have to fully pull cyber out of its silo, which means not just integrating the effects, but starting the integration from day one with operational planning," she said.
Brandon Pugh, principal cyber adviser for the Army, reinforced the point. Cyber is most effective "when we see cyber blending in the kinetic operations while still being an option in its own right," he said at the same conference.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Pugh oversight of all defense critical infrastructure-both physical and cyber-underscoring how the department views the two as linked. The Army conducted an exercise last month bringing agencies together to examine threat scenarios across multiple domains.
Security Must Come First With AI
Sutton also warned that the Pentagon cannot repeat the mistake made with the internet, which was not built with security in mind. As the Defense Department adopts advanced AI models, security must be embedded from the beginning.
"As we adopt these new tools, we're also creating a new threat landscape for adversaries to attack us and exploit these new capabilities," Sutton said. "We need to start thinking about how we're going to secure them."
The department has historically treated security as a secondary consideration after adopting new tools. "I just don't think we have that luxury with AI," Sutton said.
For operations professionals, this shift means cyber and security considerations will become standard elements of planning, not additions made during execution. Organizations supporting DOD operations should prepare for these integrated requirements. Learn more about AI for Government and AI for Operations.
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