PREDICT. PREPARE. PREVAIL.

As the Executive Director for DC3, I welcome you to the Spring 2026 iteration of the Department of Defense (DoD) Cyber Crime Center (DC3) Technical Exchange (TechEx). We are grateful for the continued partnership and support from the office of the DoW CIO, which is vital to our shared mission.

Forums such as this are pivotal. The cyber challenges we face transcend organizational, industrial, and geographic boundaries. They demand a united, national effort to overcome them. Our theme, “Threat Radar: Your Digital Forecast,” reflects a core challenge: we cannot forecast a storm we cannot fully see. It is only by combining our individual "radars"—our unique threat intelligence—through robust public-private partnerships that we can create the digital forecast needed to protect our nation.

We appreciate your time and attention over the next two days as we delve into a series of sessions that include and go beyond customary DIB cybersecurity topics. Throughout this conference, we hope to engage with all of you in an open and constructive dialogue about the real-world threats you are facing, the barriers that hinder our collective response, and the innovative strategies we can build together.

I encourage you to envision a storm that impacts our critical infrastructure, emergency services, governments, and everyday Americans. Your active participation in sessions will be crucial for developing the innovative strategies and technologies needed to counter our adversaries. We need to identify and remove the barriers that have made collaboration difficult in the past and spur a new wave of ideation. As leaders, you have the vision and experience to help us pave the way forward.

The capabilities of the Department of War are built upon the foundation of the Defense Industrial Base. We could not accomplish our mission without your support and leadership. I ask that you think beyond the predictable and lay the groundwork for future collaborations. Our national security depends on it.

Sincerely,

Lesley H. Bernys Executive Director, DC3