A regional conference and friendly Pentagon cyber sleuths help bolster security THE WATCH Staff Safeguarding against cyber attacks is critical to the defense of any nation. Innovation is key as enemy tactics evolve and technological advances reveal new vulnerabilities. That’s why the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) launched the “Hack the Pentagon” program, a bold initiative to shore up cyber defenses. Launched in 2016, the program was the first of its kind for the federal government. It empowers individuals to hunt for bugs and vulnerabilities in DOD websites available to the public. “We know that state-sponsored actors and black-hat hackers…
The Watch
Brian D. Laslie, Ph.D. It is always treacherous to ask a historian when an event began or ended. “It depends” will likely be the answer. Take, for example, the beginning of World War II. Americans might use the date December 7, 1941. Many in Europe would say September 1, 1939, or even January 30, 1933, when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. Again, “it depends” largely on where and when an event began for “us.” The same is true for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). NORAD’s official birthday is May 12, 1958, the date the United States…