Basics key to effective cyber defense, says former Army CIO

Effective cyber defense comes from following the basic rules of military strategy, the Army's former CIO said Sept. 18.

In his keynote address to the Defense Systems Summit, retired LTG Jeffrey Sorenson said the nation's efforts still lack awareness of what data is out there and how it needs to be protected.

He cited a study by Verizon of its own data networks showing that attacks by external actors were up 22 percent from 2007 to 2011, and that 92 percent of those attacks were not difficult.

"This tells me we're not doing things right," Sorenson said. "I would submit that if you take this and take it up a couple of security levels you'd find it to be a lot more disturbing."