The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) recently announced the establishment of Cyber Command (CAFCYBERCOM) that is meant to “consolidate the CAF’s cyber capabilities into a single unified and dedicated entity.”
The announcement was made by the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, and General Jennie Carignan, Chief of the Defence Staff on September 26.
According to the news release, “The establishment of CAFCYBERCOM represents an important milestone for the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).”
The creation of CAFCYBERCOM was an action item in Our North, Strong and Free: A Renewed Vision for Canada’s Defence policy document released earlier this year.
Leading CAFCYBERCOM is Major-General Dave Yarker. His responsibilities include cyber operations, and cyber force sustainment, management, and development.
Some quick facts about CAFCYBERCOM:
- Will be the single DND/CAF authority for cyber operations, responsible for cyber force sustainment, management, and development.
- It includes Signals Intelligence and Joint Electronic Warfare and will be capable of conducting and supporting a range of cyber tasks.
- CAFCYBERCOM will support the CAF’s transition to a pan-domain battlespace with greater agility and responsive to malicious cyber activity.
- In addition to being integral to defending Canada and advancing its interests, the establishment of CAFCYBERCOM will help the Defence Team deliver on NATO commitments and the cyber and defence components of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.
Major-General Dave Yarker was appointed as the Joint Force Cyber Component Commander in 2022.