Cybercom chief Adm. Rogers criticizes military culture.

• Position: From the National Defense Blog

The U.S. military's hidebound culture and outdated procurement system are slowing down efforts to improve cyber defenses against increasingly sophisticated network attacks, said Navy Adm. Michael S. Rogers, director of the National Security Agency and head of U.S. Cyber Command.

The Pentagon created the cyber command four years ago to prepare to wage war against hackers and foreign spies. It has a $500 million annual budget and a sprawling campus on Fort Meade, Maryland. Its ability to protect Defense Department networks is limited, however, by the military's disjointed organization and outdated attitudes about information technology, Rogers said June 12.

"Our greater challenge is not technology but organization," he told a conference of the Association of the U.S. Army, in Arlington, Virginia.

The Pentagon by some estimates operates 15,000 networks across the Defense Department and the military services. Each branch of the military buys and manages its own systems. Of most...