The quality of US national cybersecurity cannot just be determined by looking at the military networks, the civilian networks also need to be considered. These are especially important in the current US China relationship which is characterized by conflicts, including in the cyber arena, below the threshold of armed conflict. If the conflict escalated, China is among the few countries that have the cyber capabilities to take down critical US infrastructure.
The private sector is likely underreporting the number of cybersecurity issues and cyber incidents they have for many reasons including to protect their brands and stocks and to avoid lawsuits and regulation. Cyber IP theft while widespread can have severe economic consequences, but may not always have as severe an effect due to the need of specialized knowledge and tools in order to successfully utilize the stolen IP. The private sector doesn’t have the same cyber defense resources that the military does, and it isn’t legally allowed to utilize cyber offense.
