# DoD cyber strategy aims for 'something big, something muscular' in offensive ops > Source: > Published: 2026-09-11 02:22:17+00:00 WASHINGTON — The forthcoming Pentagon cyber strategy will focus on delivering “big outcomes” for the defense secretary and President Donald Trump in the way of offensive actions, according to a top cyber official. “We often hear about offense versus defense … but defense in itself is not the outcome; it’s not the goal. It is to allow us to go on offense with something big, something muscular, and something that will drive the outcomes. Our strategy attempts to do that,” Brig. Gen. William Wilburn, deputy principal cyber advisor for the Department of Defense, said at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit Wednesday. The strategy will be the first one since the Biden administration’s strategy was released in 2023. Officials have [previously alluded](https://breakingdefense.com/2026/06/dod-cyber-strategy-will-set-a-clear-and-specific-vision-for-ai-to-enable-the-force-official/) to the contents of the upcoming strategy, saying it will set a course outlining the role AI will play for the cyber force. A [draft of the cyber strategy,](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/03/pentagon-offensive-cyber-strategy-01063119) Politico reported, showed the desire for private companies to engage in hacking activities. The Pentagon’s cyber strategy follows the national cyber strategy, which was released in March and sought a more [proactive and offensive posture to cyberspace](https://cyberscoop.com/aggressive-cyber-offense-trump-administration-us-strategy-debate/) in line with sentiments from the Trump administration. While cyber has been integrated with kinetic military activity for many years, officials have made a point of highlighting the role cyber has played in recent operations during the Trump administration. That includes [Operation Midnight Hammer](https://defensescoop.com/2025/06/23/cyber-command-supports-attack-iran-nuclear-facilities-midnight-hammer/), [Operation Absolute Resolve](https://breakingdefense.com/2026/02/venezuela-operation-relied-on-little-known-cyber-center-official-says/) and Operation [Epic](https://breakingdefense.com/2026/03/how-us-cyber-operators-could-take-on-iran-in-cyberspace-as-epic-fury-plays-out/) [Fury](https://breakingdefense.com/2026/03/heres-how-cyber-could-have-been-used-to-target-iran-in-operation-epic-fury/). Wilburn noted the Pentagon wants to give senior leaders the tools they need in crisis or conflict. “The takeaway is, it’s about driving big outcomes and giving the secretary and the president options, more options. We want to move away from things that look like persistent engagement. We want to go to higher impact options,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is drive those outcomes in a way that we haven’t seen done before.” “Persistent engagement” refers to an operating concept within CYBERCOM dating back to 2018 that called on Pentagon hackers to be more active in cyberspace, contesting the activity adversaries daily by “defending forward,” hindering their ability to launch cyberattacks on US targets. Wilburn said daily engagement would still be necessary, but he suggested it would take a more aggressive stance. He did not provide details, but referred to the attitude as one of “confrontation.” “The outcomes that we want to achieve [are] very clear. We want to ensure that the US is safe, the homeland is safe, that adversaries aren’t able to challenge us, and if so, we’re able to deliver the outcomes that again the department and the nation need,” he said. The forthcoming strategy will also include an action plan to ensure those outcomes come to fruition instead of “sit[ting] on the shelf,” which tends to happen too often, Wilburn said.