Cyber, Space Commands were among 'first movers' in strikes on Iran: top general

U.S. Cyber Command and Space Command were among the “first movers” to begin “layering non-kinetic effects” as the U.S. launched its war on Iran over the weekend, the nation's top officer said Monday. 

“Coordinated space and cyber operations effectively disrupted communications and sensor networks across the area of responsibility, leaving the adversary without the ability to see, coordinate or respond effectively,” Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said in a Monday press briefing at the Pentagon.

Caine’s acknowledgment, though lacking detail, signals a continued willingness by U.S. leaders to publicly describe cyber capabilities as an embedded element of large-scale combat operations, rather than as a separate, covert matter.

After a U.S. military raid captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, President Trump suggested that U.S. cyber warriors played a role in efforts to cut power to Venezuela’s capital and interfere with air defense radar. Some details of those efforts were previously reported by Nextgov/FCW and Defense One.

Tehran-linked hackers are stepping up digital reconnaissance and preparing for potentially disruptive cyber activity following recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, cyber intelligence firms warned Monday. The war is expected to test U.S. cyber defenses, which have been left short-staffed by past year's federal workforce cuts.