There are concerns that the
Pentagon and NSA will overshadow any civilian cyber defense efforts. There are also concerns on whether the command will assist in civilian cyber defense efforts. According to
Deputy SECDEF William J. Lynn, USCYBERCOM "will lead day-to-day defense and protection of all DoD networks. It will be responsible for DoD's networks – the
dot-mil world. Responsibility for federal civilian networks –
dot-gov – stays with the
Department of Homeland Security, and that's exactly how it should be." Alexander notes, however, that if faced with cyber hostilities, an executive order could expand USCYBERCOM's spectrum of operations to include, for instance, assisting the Department of Homeland Security in defense of their networks. Some military leaders claim that the existing cultures of the Army, Navy, and Air Force are fundamentally incompatible with that of
cyber warfare. Major Robert Costa (USAF) even suggested a sixth branch of the military, an Information (Cyber) Service with
Title 10 responsibilities analogous to its sister services in 2002 noting: Others have also discussed the creation of a cyber-warfare branch. Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Conti and Colonel John "Buck" Surdu (chief of staff of the
United States Army Research, Development and Engineering Command) stated that the three major services are "properly positioned to fight kinetic wars, and they value skills such as marksmanship, physical strength, the ability to leap out of airplanes and lead combat units under enemy fire." In response to concerns about the military's right to respond to
cyber attacks, General Alexander stated "The U.S. must fire back against cyber attacks swiftly and strongly and should act to counter or disable a threat even when the identity of the attacker is unknown" prior to his confirmation hearings before the
United States Congress. This came in response to incidents such as a 2008 operation to take down a government-run
extremist honeypot in
Saudi Arabia. "Elite U.S. military computer specialists, over the objections of the CIA, mounted a cyberattack that dismantled the online forum". "The new U.S. Cyber Command needs to strike a balance between protecting military assets and personal privacy." stated Alexander, in a Defense Department release. If confirmed, Alexander said, his main focus will be on building capacity and capability to secure the networks and educating the public on the command's intent. "This command is not about an effort to militarize cyber space," he said. "Rather, it's about safeguarding our military assets." In July 2011, Deputy SECDEF William Lynn announced in a conference that "We have, within Cyber Command, a full spectrum of capabilities, but the thrust of the strategy is defensive." "The strategy rests on five pillars, he said: treat cyber as a domain; employ more active defenses; support the Department of Homeland Security in protecting critical infrastructure networks; practice collective defense with allies and international partners; and reduce the advantages attackers have on the Internet." In 2013, USCYBERCOM held a classified exercise in which reserve officers (with extensive experience in their civilian cyber-security work) easily defeated active duty cyber warriors. In 2015
Eric Rosenbach, the principal cyber adviser to SECDEF
Ash Carter, said DoD was looking at alternatives to staffing with just active-duty military. Beginning that year, USCYBERCOM added 133 teams (staffing out at 6,000 people), with the intent that at least 15% of the personnel would be
reserve cyber operations airmen. These new teams had achieved IOC as of 21 October 2016. Officials noted that IOC is not the same as combat readiness, but is the first step in that direction.
President Barack Obama's
Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity was formed to develop a plan for protecting cyberspace. The commission released a report in December 2016. The report made 16 major recommendations regarding the intertwining roles of the military, government administration and the private sector in providing cyber security.
President Trump indicated that he wanted a full review of USCYBERCOM during his bid for presidency. During his presidency, the Trump administration made USCYBERCOM a unified combatant command, and took other measures attempting to deter cyber attacks. However, the FBI reported that they logged a record number of complaints and economic losses in 2019, as cybercrime continued to grow. ==International effects and reactions==