US Defense Department's priority is "to advance the transition to Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system"

In the wake of the WannaCrypt cyber attack disaster in UK, US readers may be concerned about the preparedness of their own government for similar attacks.

The good news is that the top priority of the Acting Chief Information Officer for the Department of Defense is getting the DoD on Microsoft’s latest and most secure operating system.

Previously when using government-only systems by the time a technology was deployed it had already become obsolete, said former DOD Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen.

Now as the Pentagon itself move to more off-the-shelf technology, roughly 90 percent of DOD operating systems will be on Windows 10.

John Zangardi, acting chief information officer at the Defense Department, said one of his priorities at DoD is to advance the transition to Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system.

“The objective is to be done and in our networks by the end of this calendar year,” said Zangardi at the Adobe Digital Government Symposium.

The work would help the DoD implement a Defense Enterprise Office Platform, which seeks to integrate voice, email, video and content management platforms as well as communication tools into a single unified client.

Zangardi cybersecurity priorities at DoD include efforts to maximize capability and lethality, reduce the cyber attack surface, understand the department’s information technology infrastructure and build up efficiency and effectiveness, which would  “free up dollars that can be put into the procurement of planes, or ships or tanks or bullets.”