The Pentagon is looking to cut about 5,400 probationary workers starting this week; Why the U.S. is falling behind its enemies in cyberspace

The Pentagon is set to begin its termination of thousands of select probationary employees in the coming days as part of the Trump administration’s unfolding campaign to “maximize efficiency” by rapidly reducing the size of the federal workforce. Darin Selnick, who is performing the duties of undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, announced the plans in an email to reporters on Friday afternoon. “We expect approximately 5,400 probationary workers will be released beginning next week as part of this initial effort, after which we will implement a hiring freeze while we conduct a further analysis of our personnel needs, complying as always with all applicable laws,” Selnick wrote. He confirmed that the DOD is anticipating at this time to shrink its civilian workforce by 5% to 8% in an effort to “produce efficiencies and refocus” the department’s priorities to match those of President Donald Trump’s new administration.

The United States is falling “increasingly behind” its adversaries in cyberspace, the former head of the Cyber Command and National Security Agency said Saturday. Speaking at the DistrictCon cybersecurity conference in Washington, D.C., retired Gen. Paul Nakasone said that the nation’s adversaries are continuing to be able to broaden the spectrum of what they’re able to do to us. Nakasone said incidents like Chinese government-backed breaches of U.S. telecommunications companies and other critical infrastructure — as well as a steady drumbeat of ransomware attacks against U.S. targets — illustrate “the fact that we’re unable to secure our networks, the fact that we’re unable to leverage the software that’s being provided today, the fact that we have adversaries that continue to maintain this capability.”

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