Cybercom Task Force is Working to Mitigate Future AI Threats

U.S. Cyber Command’s new AI task force is focused on mitigating risks and exploring uses cases with generative AI, said its commander and National Security Agency Director Gen. Timothy Haugh at a leadership dinner hosted by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance last week.

“We have established an AI task force to move us from an opportunistic application of AI to a systemic approach,” said Haugh.

Housed within Cybercom’s Cyber National Mission Force and launched in April, the task force plans to accelerate a five-year AI roadmap as Congress requested in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act to rapidly adopt and integrate AI systems for cybersecurity.

What is Cybercom’s AI Task Force Doing?

Specifically, the AI task force’s three focus areas include conveying capabilities for military operations, countering AI threats and enabling AI adoption throughout the national security ecosystem, said Haugh at AFCEA TechNet Cyber in Baltimore in June.

“We put it inside of our largest operational organization,” said Haugh. “Maj. Gen. Lorna Mahlock (the mission force’s commander) has that team of expertise as a tool that when she’s got a hard problem, she can use that task force as one of the solutions.”

Haugh said the agency has more than 170 generative AI projects, with a large percentage of those projects serving as learning opportunities for NSA personnel.

“Within the past year, NSA has piloted generative AI capabilities for more than 7,000 analysts who are learning how to adapt using it for our intelligence, cybersecurity and business workflows,” said Haugh. “We want to create opportunities for people to experiment, leverage and compliantly use some of those that will become things that could be just as critical [to NSA’s cybersecurity mission].”

The group will work with other Pentagon offices — including DARPA, the DOD CIO and the Chief Digital and AI Office — around plans for AI use across the defense mission.

“[Cybercom is providing lessons] on how the department considers the use of AI as it relates to cyberspace operations and really be a catalyst in how we partner with the services,” Haugh said.

Future of AI for Cybersecurity at DOD

NSA plans to establish a robust AI governance process led by its chief responsible AI officer to “ensure that privacy rights are fully preserved, and any adoption of advanced AI occurs legally, compliantly and securely,” Haugh said.

“The collaboration that’s going on between NSA and Cyber Command really allows us to build a community to practice that we’re both learning together,” Haugh said. “We’ll also look to how we share computer resources … to really allow us to scale and then do so fast. So I think [with] those opportunities for us, we really can be unique in the department with our workforce and with the way that we apply both our experience in AI and [machine learning]. Certainly, NSA has done that for decades.”

Working with industry, academia and other stakeholders is critical to the task force and to the broader implications of AI implementation, Haugh noted.

“AI, like many of today’s global national security challenges, is simply too vast a challenge to tackle, which is why we are dedicated to bringing together the unique skills, knowledge and talent on AI from all facets of our society,” said Haugh. “NSA is also dedicated to sharing what we learn through these efforts with the broader community.”