The Pentagon is building a new command structure to defend America’s power grids, water systems, and transportation networks from Chinese hackers already embedded inside U.S. critical infrastructure.
The Defense Cyber Defense Command (DCDC) — elevated to a sub-unified structure under U.S. Cyber Command in May 2025 — has one mission: protect America from digital threats that could cripple national security.
“The PRC has already compromised these systems.”
Col. Adolph Rodriguez, director of Defense Critical Infrastructure at DCDC, told Breaking Defense the command is building a unified framework across agencies including CISA, FBI, Coast Guard, and the Department of War.
“The most important thing, besides understanding the technology, the people, the processes, is who’s in control, who’s executing, what’s the common rail amongst all the authorizations,” Rodriguez said at the TechNet Cyber conference Wednesday.
The restructuring came after the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act called for unifying DCDC as its own subcommand. The move gained urgency as Chinese state-sponsored hackers began pre-positioning themselves inside U.S. infrastructure networks.
“People’s Republic of China state-sponsored cyber actors are seeking to pre-position themselves on IT networks for disruptive or destructive cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure in the event of a major crisis or conflict with the United States,” according to a February 2024 CISA report.
Volt Typhoon — a Chinese-sponsored hacker group — is known to target power, water, and transportation systems. Some “cyber-actors” have been living inside these systems for years while waiting for their chance to strike, according to a National Security Agency report from February 2024.
“Our preparation has been hampered by limited threat perception and reliance on integrated Chinese-origin technology and components, including cellular modules and the Internet of Things, creating structural vulnerabilities dating back to the 1990s,” Piero Tozzi, senior director of China policy at the America First Policy Institute, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Rodriguez told Breaking Defense the command is building a cyber campaign plan that integrates NORTHCOM authorities with Cyber Command’s authorities, organized by infrastructure sectors similar to FEMA’s structure.
“How do we continue to operate before, during, and after the attack?” Rodriguez asked.
Steven Bucci, Heritage Foundation Visiting Fellow and former Pentagon official, told the DCNF the effort is essential but must remain adaptive.
“If we get to the point that we think we have ‘solved’ this challenge, we will be in grave danger,” Bucci said. “Our adversaries — China clearly prominent among them — are constantly working to overcome our defenses, so we need to work to stay ahead.”
