Pentagon creates cyber security exchange program with industry

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. Defense Department is sending career personnel on tours with private cyber security companies and bringing in specialists from those companies to gain the skills necessary to defend military networks from hackers, the Pentagon's chief information officer said.

"There's not a time when I'm not being attacked somewhere in the world," Terry Halvorsen, said at an event in Washington Thursday hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. "We're looking to industry to help us solve some specific areas."

Related: Silicon Valley help sought as Pentagon fights cyber attacks

The department, for example, brought in a specialist in computer server routing technology from Cisco Systems Inc., Halvorsen said.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said earlier this year that Russian hackers penetrated the Pentagon's unclassified network. Halvorsen declined to discuss the attack, or details of any other threats.

"I think Russian hackers are a serious threat," he said.

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