The Department of the Navy is having a hard time keeping hackers out of its networks and is under a “cyber siege,” according to an audit released this week.
Various adversaries have compromised the department’s information systems, breached its security and pilfered “massive amounts of national security” intellectual property, according to the secretary of the Navy’s cybersecurity readiness review.
The audit also concluded the department had failed to consider that its contractors could be targeted by foreign hackers
“We find the DON preparing to win some future kinetic battle, while it is losing the current global, counter-force, counter-value, cyber war,” the forward to the report stated. “Knowing and acting on that new reality is essential for the DON.”
To address these weaknesses, the department needs to consider people, processes and culture, the report recommended. Those efforts would include creating a culture that embraces the importance of cybersecurity; building a counter-fraud program and implement an insider threat program.