Thread by @jseldin

Happening now: @US_CYBERCOM @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA and @DeptofDefense Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy Mieke Eoyang testifying before #HASC subcommittee on on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems

"#China is the pacing threat for the department, including in #cyber operations" per @DeptofDefense Deputy Asst Sec Eoyang

"China uses cyber operations to erode US military overmatch and economic vitality, stealing US intellectual property & research"

"#Russia also continues to be a highly-sophisticated & capable adversary, integrating malicious cyber activities, including espionage & influence operations in mutually reinforcing ways" per Eoyang

"#China & #Russia view the internet as a mechanism to control & to intimidate their own populations...a digital authoritarian model" per Eoyang "China seeks to export digital authoritarianism"

"The line between nation-state & criminal actors in increasingly blurry as nation-states turn to criminal proxies as a tool of state power & then turn a blind eye to the cyber crime perpetrated by the same malicious actors" per Eoyang "This is a common practice for #Russia"

"We have also seen some states allow their government hackers to moonlight as cyber criminals" per Eoyang

"The #UnitedStates gvt in tandem w/industry partners must improve its defensive posture to prevent and/or minimize the impacts, while contesting & defeating those who would exploit such vulnerabilities" per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA

"Cybersecurity is national security"

.@US_CYBERCOM conducted +two dozen operations to get ahead of foreign threats ahead of #Election2020, per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA

Also worked w/@USNationalGuard to quickly share information abt incidents, he says

"We seen a tremendous difference in the [#cyber] environment" over the past 14 months, per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA

"Adversaries are demonstrating a changed risk-calculus. They are undertaking malign activities in cyberspace at greater scope, scale & sophistication"

US #cyber mission force now at 133 teams

"In the future we have to account for the growing importance of space" per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA

Also, "have that balance of not only what we are going to support our fellow combatant commands" & counteract adversaries in the gray zone

"It's no longer just a simple guessing of passwords or perhaps a phishing email...They're using things like supply chain operations as we saw in #SolarWinds, or they're using zero-day vulnerabilities, those vulnerabilities at the provider doesn't know about" per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA

"This is the world in which our adversaries are operating - below the level of armed conflict trying to do 3 primary things..." per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA

"...They are looking to steal our intellectual property. They are looking to steal our personal identification...& they're looking to conduct interference & influence operations either against our electoral processes or within our economy" per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA

Deterrence in #cyber space: "It really is thinking about how do we impose costs" per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA "That's the way we have approached it at US Cyber Command, within the department, in terms of operating outside of United States..."

"When we see elements that are operating, how do we impose the largest cost possible, whether or not that's through being able to expose them, whether or not that's being able to share the information...or whether or not when authorized to conduct operations against them"

.@RepMattGaetz asks if there will an "imposition of some cost" for the latest #cyber attack

"I won't get into any of the operations that are being considered" per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA

"My role as the commander of Cyber Command is to provide a series of operational opportunities or courses of action for the secretary and the president to consider" per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA

"Our response has to be persistent" when it comes to non-state actors, per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA "It can't be a one-time effort"

Training/prep for #Disinformation

"We have a very vert structured analytic development program at Cyber Command that walks our analysts thru being able to understand the information that's presented" per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA

"This is a dynamic environment, so our training continues to evolve" per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA "We continue to see our adversaries utilize new means upon which they are trying to influence ..."

"This is a priority for the secretary in terms of increasing the resilience of the DoD workforce" per @CyberDASD Eoyang, referencing #USCapitol riot

"We do teach a fair amount of critical thinking to large parts of our workforce"

#Cyber attacks from non-state actors engaged in financially motivate crimes - "The lead for responding to those actors are the @FBI & DOJ [@TheJusticeDept]" per @CyberDASD Eoyang

"The challenge we have when those attack 1st come across the networks & impact us, when we see that malicious activity, it's always a challenge of attribution..." to determine who then takes the lead, per @CyberDASD Eoyang

.@US_CYBERCOM & #Election2020 - 11 different missions in 9 different countries, per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA, emphasizing ability to work w/partners & allies