Oct 14 2021

Ex-DoD Security Chief: China is Winning—it’s ‘A Done Deal’

Category: Cyber War,Digital cold warDISC @ 9:43 am

The former chief software officer for the U.S. Air Force, Nicolas Chaillan, says the U.S. is falling far behind China in cybersecurity. In a no-holds-barred interview, he unloads his frustrations, built up over three years of inept bungling at the Pentagon.

He quit his job last month, in disgust. â€œWe are setting up critical infrastructure to fail,” Chaillan warned. And now Defense Department officials will be bracing themselves for more criticism as he vows to testify to Congress.

Lauren Knausenberger now holds the poisoned chalice. In today’s SB Blogwatch, we plan to fail.

Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: Fruit salad word salad.

Beijing Back Better

What’s the craic? Katrina Manson reports—“Chaillan speaks of ‘good reason to be angry’ as Beijing heads for ‘global dominance’”:

Kindergarten level”
In his first interview since leaving the post at the Department of Defense a week ago, Nicolas Chaillan told [me] the failure of the US to respond to Chinese cyber and other threats was putting his children’s future at risk. “We have no competing fighting chance against China in 15 to 20 years. Right now, it’s already a done deal; it is already over in my opinion,” he said.


Chaillan, 37, who spent three years on a Pentagon-wide effort to boost cyber security and as first chief software officer for the US Air Force, said Beijing is heading for global dominance because of its advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning and cyber capabilities. He argued these emerging technologies were far more critical to America’s future than hardware such as big-budget fifth-generation fighter jets such as the F-35.


Senior defence officials have acknowledged they “must do better” to attract, train and retain young cyber talent. 
 Chaillan announced his resignation in a blistering letter at the start of September, saying military officials were repeatedly put in charge of cyber initiatives for which they lacked experience, decrying Pentagon “laggards” and absence of funding.


Chaillan said he plans to testify to Congress about the Chinese cyber threat to US supremacy, including in classified briefings, over the coming weeks. 
 He added US cyber defences in some government departments were at “kindergarten level.”

Ex-DoD Security Chief: China is Winning—it’s ‘A Done Deal’

The New Art of War: China’s Deep Strategy Inside the United States 

Tags: China is Winning, cyberwarfare, New Art of War