U.S. Navy is serious about cybersecurity.

• Position: CYBERSECURITY

Despite budget cuts and the sequester and other funding obstacles, the U.S. Defense Department's cyber program has continued unabated, according to Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations, who spoke to Reuters.

"The level of investment that we put into cyber in the department is as protected or as focused as it would be in strategic nuclear," Greenert said. "It's right up there in the one-two area above all other programs."

The effort makes sense, considering how heavily the U.S. Navy depends on computer networks and satellites to coordinate personnel, ships, and planes.

"Many people who look at the future of warfare say it's bound to start in cyber. The first thing you'd want to do is shut down their sensors, interrupt their power grid, confuse them ... and presumably guard against that kind of thing and recognize it if it's starting," he added.

Greenert's comments came shortly after the Pentagon filed its report with Congress that accuses China of trying to break into U.S. defense computer networks. In addition to China, Greenert said Iran has a "deliberate and emerging" cyber...