The military gets cyber-serious

Alexander

The United States is taking cyber-security to the next level, and recent happenings within the government have illustrated just how serious they are.

On May 21, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced the appointment of Army General Keith Alexander as commander of the first U.S. Cyber Command, officially establishing operational capability for the new Cyber Command, which is operating out of Fort Meade in Maryland but will report to the U.S. Strategic Command located at the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. Alexander had undergone a rigorous confirmation hearing with lawmakers before landing the job.

“Given our increasing dependency on cyberspace, this new command will bring together the resources of the department to address vulnerabilities and meet the ever-growing array of cyber threats to our military systems,” said Gates, who established the command almost a year ago.

In a press release issued by the Department of Defense (DoD), the Cyber Command is described as being tasked with “pulling together existing cyberspace resources, creating synergy that does not currently exist and synchronizing war-fighting effects to defend the DoD information security environment.” The Cyber Command will be staffed with about 1,000 personnel.

“We want to be able to maintain those advantages and protect the military missions, and that is the main mission of Cyber Command -- it is to protect the military networks,” said Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn. “It will have a role, though, in protecting the government’s networks and critical infrastructure.”

 “It will be the place where the Department of Homeland Security will come to on cybersecurity matters,” he added. “And it will help rationalize the interagency process.”

Lynn went on to describe the threat of cyber-warfare, calling it “asymmetric.”

“It doesn’t take the resources of a nation state to launch cyber war,” Lynn said. “Nations still have the best capabilities, but you can do very threatening and damaging things with modest investments.

“Our ability to predict where the threats are coming [from], even in conventional threats, is remarkably poor,” he continued. “We didn’t see Desert Storm coming. We didn’t see the series of events that led to Afghanistan. Foreseeing the threats in cyberspace is harder. With Cyber Command, I think we need to be prepared for the unexpected.”

In addition to creating the command, the government is also dedicating resources to ensure cyber capabilities are supported throughout the entire military stucture. Since November 2009, 30,000 airmen have been transferred to a new designation -- the cyberspace officer – with 3,000 of them making the move just last month.

“It’s not just spray paint, it’s a new mindset,” said Brig. Gen. David Cotton, director of cyberspace transformation and strategy division.

Cyberspace officers will be "the go-to experts on how a computer or communication network can improve war-fighting capabilities," according to a military issued press release.

The Air Force says it expects to train approximately 400 U.S. civilian, military and foreign government personnel each year to become cyberspace officers.

“It will raise the bar on technical competency,” the general added.

Meanwhile the sixth annual Schriever Wargame began May 7 at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. This year’s game is set in the year 2022 and is designed to “explore critical space issues and investigate the integration activities of multiple agencies associated with space systems and services,” according to a press release issued by the U.S. military.

The game has three stated objectives:

• Investigating space and cyberspace alternative concepts, capabilities and force postures to meet future requirements;

• Examining the contributions of space and cyberspace to future deterrent strategies;

• Exploring integrated planning processes that employ a whole-of-nations’ (comprehensive) approach to protect and execute operations in space and cyberspace domains.

Almost all other details of the games are classified, but approximately 350 military and civilian experts from more than 30 different agencies from the U.S., Australian, Canadian and British governments participated in the event.

The Schriever Wargame Series is “an important tool that helps us understand a very complex operational environment,” said Air Force General C. Robert Kehler.