Should the Pentagon Establish a Fourth Military Service for Conducting Cyberwar?

Last Updated on Monday, 23 March 2009 09:46 Written by admin Monday, 23 March 2009 09:46

Yes, according to Col. John “Buck” Surdu, chief of staff at the Army Research Engineering and Development Command, and Lt. Col. Gregory Conti, assistant professor of Computer Science at the U.S. Military Academy. They co-authored an article which called for such a Command in the Spring issue of IANewsletter, published by the Defense Information Assurance Technology Analysis Center.

The article itself isn’t linked to in the coverage provided by a review in NextGov (if anyone wants to send me a copy, I’d like to read it), however the NextGov article doesn’t highlight any arguments that i would consider original or compelling.

Personally, I agree with Bernie Skoch who was interviewed by Bob Brewin, the author of the NextGov article:

Bernie Skoch, a retired Air Force general who spent his career in the command, control, communications and information systems fields, also warned against separating cyberwarfare from kinetic warfare, saying it could cripple effects-based campaigns, which combine traditional warfare with nonmilitary initiatives that include diplomacy, propaganda and cyberwarfare (emphasis mine). Skoch, who is a consultant with Suss Consulting in Jenkinstown, Pa., said that to achieve a military goal it will likely require a combination of cyber- and kinetic attacks, and strategic and tactical commanders need both in their arsenal.

“Cyber can potentially be a weapon of mass disruption” – General William Lord

Last Updated on Saturday, 18 October 2008 10:35 Written by admin Saturday, 18 October 2008 10:35

Boy, was I happy to read this quote by USAF General William Lord in Aviation Week this morning:

Lord also referred to what he called “cross-domain synergies,” or the ability to use both kinetic and non-kinetic weapons “in concert, more efficiently. The bottom line is about changing enemy behavior,” which doesn’t necessarily have to result in total destruction. “Now you can have a more gradual and perhaps different kind of warfare where both a potential belligerent and another nation are not killing and maiming people” to effect change, Lord said.

“Cyber can potentially be a weapon of mass disruption.”

Exactly. 

The Next U.S. Cyber Command will be run by …

Last Updated on Monday, 22 September 2008 04:53 Written by admin Monday, 22 September 2008 04:26

There hasn’t been a formal announcement yet but Bob Brewin has made a prediction on information derived from un-named sources that it will be the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) in Omaha, NE. 

I have picked up strong signals that Pentagon leadership has decided that the U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha, Neb., will create and run a joint cyber command, dashing any hopes the Air Force has to own all things cyber in the Defense Department. 

I’m told STRATCOM will announce formation of the new organization by the end of October, with a formal stand-up of the group planned by spring 2009.

Putting STRATCOM in charge of a joint cyber command makes more sense, sources told me, than handing over the mission to the zoomies, because STRATCOM already has under its wing the Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations, which is charged with defense of the military’s Global Information Grid.

The new joint cyber command will have the responsibilities of network attack as well as defense, and it makes sense to put the two missions under one organization, sources told me.

There are three independent Cyber divisions within the Armed Services: The 8th Air Force Cyber Command (suspended last month), the Naval Network Warfare Command, and the Army Network Enterprise Technology Command.

Questions remain about how the new Cyber Command will interact with the Department of Homeland Security which supposedly owns cyber security for the .gov and .ic domains. Of course, DHS’ ability to deliver on that role has been severely questioned by members of a nonpartisian cybersecurity commission that testified before the House Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology Subcommittee last week.

“The consensus is, ‘We’re under attack now and we can’t wait three years to fix DHS.” (Jim Lewis)

Hopefully, with a new Administration will come a new approach to managing this critical issue. I’d like to see a Cabinet-level post created for  Cyber Security, which would oversee the entire sub-structure of the federal governments efforts in this regard.