WASHINGTON -Today, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery, at the hearing entitled, "Cyber Warfare in the 21st Century: Threats, Challenges and Opportunities." For testimony and other information and to watch the hearing click here.
"The Committee meets today to explore 'Cyber Warfare in the 21st Century: Threats, Challenges, and Opportunities.'
Needless to say, it is a big, complex topic that is at the heart of much of American national security today and will be even more so in the future.
One of those internet quotes attributed to Albert Einstein says:
'Given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 55 minutes understanding the problem and five minute resolving it.'
Whether Einstein really said something like that or not, I think his point rings true that much of our challenge in cyber is understanding the problem.
As we have seen in recent years, cyber is being used by both nation states and non-state actors in ways that challenge our traditional notions of what is war. It is being used to destroy and to steal and to influence.
Cyber is a domain of warfare in itself, but its technologies also undergird most all of our defense efforts. It helps make us the strongest military in the world, and it also presents a vulnerability which adversaries are looking to exploit. And what it true for our military is also true for our society – these technologies offer great opportunity but are also a vulnerability that must be defended. And for that we often turn to the United States military.
I am grateful to all of the Members who came back to Washington early this week to spend our yearly retreat at Ft. Meade focusing on this issue. Our witnesses today will help advance our thinking, and hopefully help lead us to find the right questions to which we must devote our efforts."