Defense Department Receives Independent Study on Establishing Cyber Policy Lead

A Department of Defense representative said Rand has submitted the results of a study on designating an assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy.

The 2023 National Defense Authorization Act requires the DOD to establish the post, The Record reported Wednesday.

In an email sent Tuesday, the representative wrote that a review of the findings is underway. The Rand study will guide decisions on the new office’s structure, resources and workforce, they added.

The DOD is expected to take months to set up the office and nominate someone to lead it. John Plumb, the department’s assistant secretary of defense for space policy, testified to House lawmakers in April that a nomination is unlikely within 2023.

Mieke Eoyang, the DOD’s deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy, has been floated as a candidate. Sources told The Record that Michael Sulmeyer, the Army’s principal cyber adviser, could also be named for the role.