Air Force Gen. Darren McDew, the nominee to be the next commander of U.S. Transportation Command, highlighted Tuesday the risk of cyberattacks from hostile countries as one of his top concerns in his potential new role.
Cyberattacks could target not only TRANSCOM but also the commercial companies and networks upon which TRANSCOM relies to move troops and equipment around the world, McDew said at his nomination hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“Ninety percent of our work is done on the commercial networks, and that is a threat I’ve got to face going forward if confirmed,” McDew said “There is always that threat that adversarial nations could shut down our nation. I believe the U.S. Transportation Command has put some things in place to make that less likely. But as we go forward, the threat only gets worse. Our ability to deal with it must evolve and we have to find ways to do better.”
McDew, currently commander of Air Mobility Command, also said that one of the things that make cyberattacks so attractive for adversarial nations is that they can be carried out with little cost or potential repercussions, yet can cause large amounts of damage.
In his written responses to committee questions, McDew said that if confirmed, he will continue working to improve information sharing among agencies on cyber intrusions of commercial companies TRANSCOM works with.
If confirmed, McDew would replace Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, nominated to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
