Defense & Intelligence Policy, Business and Technology

Pentagon Thwarts 36 Million Email Breach Attempts Daily

Nextgov: Every day, the Defense Department thwarts 36 million emails full of malware, viruses and phishing schemes from hackers, terrorists and foreign adversaries trying to gain unauthorized access to military systems.

Extrapolated over one year, the Pentagon’s receives 13 billion such emails, which are automatically scanned for suspicious content and other telltale signatures and “dumped on the floor” before they ever reach an inbox, according to David Bennett, director of operations for the Defense Information Systems Agency.

“The reality is we’ve got to get it right all the time, they only have to get it right once,” said Bennett, speaking Thursday at an AFCEA event in Arlington. “Emails are the number one [threat vector] delivery mechanism globally.”

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