Army Gen. Charles Jacoby, Jr. addressed the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing for the military’s fiscal 2013 budget request on Tuesday, American Forces Press Service reported.
The Northcom and North American Aerospace Defense Command commander defended Northcom’s 6 percent budget reduction and his command’s growing significance in cybersecurity and surveillance against international crime organizations.
Jacoby said Northcom’s main accountability over the cyber domain is handling consequence management and providing definite characteristics of a cyber attack.
If well-organized cyber attack is directed toward the U.S., Northcom could extend support to civil authorities in calamity resurgence.
Jacoby also expects to publish a definite set of guidelines that would describe the qualifications of a cyber attack within the year, AFPS reported.
Northcom and the U.S. Southern Command are the Pentagon’s main representatives in the Western Hemisphere.
The commands also work with the Department of Homeland Security and organizations within the Justice Department to combat transnational organized crime.
