GAO: DOD Needs Permanent Group to Protect Critical Technologies

Ivan Cholakov/Shutterstock.com

The task force currently running these efforts is set to dissolve in the coming months.

A Defense Department task force is making progress on developing procedures for identifying and protecting critical technologies but should designate an organization to run protection efforts departmentwide to ensure consistent leadership, according to a new Government Accountability Office audit released Jan. 12

The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act mandated DOD come up with a list of acquisition programs, technologies, manufacturing capabilities and research areas critical to maintaining U.S. military superiority. Such a list would enable DOD and other federal agencies to establish protection members aimed at preventing adversaries from spying or stealing this technology. But previous methods of identification didn’t work for DOD, so the department began implementing a revised process in February 2020. 

That work, which is not yet complete, is being led by the Protecting Critical Technology Task Force, established by then-Defense Secretary James Mattis in 2018. Maj. Gen. Thomas Murphy, who heads up the task force, indicated this work is concerned with combating any means by which technology, information and data could be stolen, including via cyber activities.

The task force was supposed to dissolve in October 2020, according to the audit, but will likely stay intact until spring in order to transition responsibilities. Which organization will assume these responsibilities is the question.

“With the new administration coming in, we think it's really important that there is a specific organization, designated to carry out these last steps, and then to ultimately administer this whole process going forward,” William Russell, who directs GAO’s contracting and national security acquisitions team and led the audit, said. 

“This is something that's cyclical. Every year there should be a new refresh of the list and some of these steps, and so it's important that there's a place within the DOD organization that's going to be specifically responsible for finishing out some of the steps,” he added. 

DOD’s procedure for protecting critical technologies has four steps: identify, communicate, protect, assess and oversee. Most of the progress in this effort has come in the identification and protection steps. While work on those two steps is not complete, DOD has the most work to do in hammering out a communications strategy and establishing metrics to gauge the success of protection efforts. According to task force officials, it will likely take until September 2021 to implement all four steps in the process. 

In the past, DOD has used formal memos sent to secretaries for military departments to communicate the list formally, but the audit suggested too much discussion of the list has happened informally, particularly when it comes to communicating with other federal agencies. 

Russell said formal communication of the list just isn’t consistent, but it’s necessary in order to be certain that protection of critical technologies is not left to chance. The departments of State, Commerce, and Treasury all play a role in protection activities such as export control and reviews of transactions. 

“Having a formal way to know what DOD thinks is important really helps to also ensure that consistency across some of these agencies,” Russell said. “Consistent protection of critical technologies is something that's been on GAO’s high-risk list beginning in 2007, and it's really about that, making sure there are no gaps in the safety net of programs that are set up to protect critical technology and information.”

The audit also found the task force has not identified metrics to measure the implementation of protection measures.

“Until program-specific and DOD-wide metrics are in place—and periodically reviewed to account for adversaries’ changing tactics—DOD will not be able to assess the implementation and sufficiency of its protection measures potentially leaving critical acquisition programs and technologies at risk of being vulnerable to adversaries,” the audit reads. 

GAO’s three recommendations suggest DOD identify an organization to oversee departmentwide protection efforts, determine a strategy to formally communicate the critical technologies list to stakeholders, and create metrics to measure protection efforts. 

DOD concurred with the recommendation around communications, and partially concurred with the others without providing much detail. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.