TechNet Land Forces East 2012

When it comes to cybersecurity, what does victory smell like? The wrap-up panel discussion for the TechNet Land Forces East conference, titled "Win: Land Cyber, Dominating and Winning Decisively," sought to provide insights and answers.

At a time when more and more computers are interconnected across the globe and more and more people are trying to exploit their vulnerabilities, the U.S. Army is shifting to meet the cybersecurity challenge.

The next generation of cybersecurity will not deal with securing computer networks but rather with ensuring the inherent security of devices that connect to those networks. That's the prediction of Steven Sprague, president and chief executive officer of Wave Systems, who delivered a plenary address to kick off the final day of the TechNet Land Forces East conference in Baltimore on Thursday.

Using resources available on the global network, three developers raced the clock to create solutions to a security problem as part of the third PlugFest competition. The winners were announced Thursday during the final day of TechNet Land Forces East in Baltimore.

"I believe that cybersecurity is a team sport," said Maj. Gen. John Davis, USA, senior military adviser for cyber to the Under Secretary of Defense (Policy), kicking off a discussion on how the military involves coalition partners in its cyberdefense efforts.

Along with all the other tools at their disposal, Marine commanders now have complete cyber resources as part of the traditional Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) operational doctrine, said Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, USMC, deputy commandant for combat development and integration and commanding general of the Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command, U.S. Marine Corps.

Cyberspace was never designed with security in mind, and no one group, or one nation, can totally control the Internet. Based on those two realities, cybersecurity requires both teamwork and collaboration, Mary Lee, director of strategy and policy development, Cyber Task Force, National Security Agency, stated during the TechNet Land Forces East conference on Wednesday.

What concerns Gen. Keith Alexander, USA, Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, and speaking today at TechNet Land Forces East in Baltimore, is that the people under his command are "not trained to a standard needed to protect our systems."

When it comes to cybersecurity, how do you distinguish the routers, switches and other equipment that make up the "network of networks" from kitten videos, blogs and company websites that make up the content found on the Internet? The answer to that question, as difficult as it might be to answer in a straightforward way, was the subject of the first panel discussion at the TechNet Land Forces East conference on Tuesday afternoon.