{"id":32197,"date":"2023-03-30T17:56:30","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T17:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/03\/30\/hackers-probing-contractors-for-path-to-pentagon-disa-chief-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:50:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:50:40","slug":"hackers-probing-contractors-for-path-to-pentagon-disa-chief-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/govcon\/2023\/03\/30\/hackers-probing-contractors-for-path-to-pentagon-disa-chief-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Hackers probing contractors for path to Pentagon, DISA chief says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Foreign hackers are targeting contractors to the U.S. government not only for their intellectual property and non-public information, but also to find furtive avenues into Pentagon networks, according to the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner on March 29 told Congress<\/a> that hackers backed by China, Russia and other adversaries are applying \u201cvery high\u201d levels of effort to digitally infiltrate, surveil and make off with plans or intelligence closely held by suppliers to the Department of Defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on their radar are means of going \u201cupstream,\u201d he said at a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of them see the defense industrial base as a soft underbelly,\u201d said Skinner<\/a>, who also serves as the commander of the Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network. \u201cThat\u2019s why our work with [Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification] 2.0 and our work day-to-day with our defense industrial base partners is critical moving forward, because that\u2019s where the adversary is really targeting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CMMC 2.0 is a framework launched in 2021 to protect the defense industrial base\u2019s sensitive unclassified information from frequent and increasingly complex cyberattacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October, the National Security Agency, FBI and other federal entities said hackers managed to infiltrate a defense industrial base organization<\/a>, maintain \u201cpersistent, long-term\u201d access to its network and abscond with sensitive data. They did not identify the victim. Years prior, Chinese-sponsored cyberattacks breached a Navy contractor\u2019s computers, jeopardizing info tied to secret work on an anti-ship missile, Defense News reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\t