Risk Averse

Last week the Defense Department issued an instruction that puts in place a policy to protect the department's warfighting mission capabilities from vulnerabilities in a system's design -- or sabotage or subversion.

The Nov. 5 instruction, signed by DOD acquisition chief Frank Kendall and Chief Information Officer Teri Takai, succinctly states its purpose:

Establishes policy and assigns responsibilities to minimize the risk that DoD’s warfighting mission capability will be impaired due to vulnerabilities in system design or sabotage or subversion of a system’s mission critical functions or critical components, as defined in this Instruction, by foreign intelligence, terrorists, or other hostile elements.

The new policy draws upon DOD's "Trusted Systems and Networks" strategy, which uses robust systems engineering, supply chain risk management, intelligence, counterintelligence and information assurance, among other tactics, to control risks that threaten military systems.