Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey says the United States is “vulnerable” to a mass cyberattack from near-peer adversaries, such as China and Iran.
The four-star general was hesitant to call the U.S. cybersecurity situation a “crisis” during a speech in Washington this week.
{mosads}However, “We are vulnerable, make no mistake about it,” Dempsey said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
His comment comes days after Pentagon leaders created new cybersecurity measures for defense firms working with the department.
Weapons-makers with Pentagon contracts will now also be required to report security breaches of their networks “that result in the loss of unclassified controlled technical information from these networks,” according to Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall.
“Defense contractors throughout the department’s supply chain have been targeted by cyber criminals attempting to steal unclassified technical data,” Kendall said Monday.