to help other nations cope with more varied cyber attacks

The US Cyber Command expects a more diverse range of requests in 2024 from countries asking for help on cyber defence issues due to fast-evolving technology that makes it more challenging for them to keep up with the latest threats, its newly appointed chief said on June 1.

- Clement Tan

"The number of different requests is probably more important to me (as a metric) than the number of operators," General Timothy Haugh, commandant of the US Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, said in an interview on the sidelines of the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore.

Cyber warfare is emerging as a key threat in national security.

Countries such as China are said to use cyber attacks "below the threshold of war to coerce its rivals", according to a report by intelligence consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton.

Gen Haugh said he expects the number of requests in 2024 to outstrip last year's.

Its Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF) conducts missions to counter malicious cyberspace attacks while helping countries that approach the unit for assistance.

In 2023 alone, the CNMF counted 22 "hunt forward" missions in 17 countries, according to Gen Haugh's written submission to the US Senate in April.