Kari Bingen, Defense Department deputy undersecretary for intelligence, told legislators during a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing that security must become “a fourth pillar in defense acquisition” in addition to cost, schedule and performance, Fifth Domain reported Thursday.
Bingen also recommended providing industry partners with incentives to encourage the adoption of security “as a major factor in their competitiveness for U.S. government business.”
The HASC hearing was convened to address the issue of illicit military technology transfer to China, vividly illustrated by reports of a cyberattack on a U.S. Navy contractor’s computer systems, compromising sensitive data pertaining to undesea warfare.
Bingen, along with other DoD officials, spoke at the hearing about the department’s four-pronged, risk-based strategy to secure U.S. military hardware, a strategy that, Bingen acknowledged, may result in friction with some industry partners.
Bingen nevertheless emphasized the need to work with industry to ensure that the “capabilities, technologies and weapon systems” being delivered “are uncompromised by our adversaries, secure from cradle to grave.”