Cyber

The U.S. Army’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, known as CERDEC, is gearing up to face increasing asymmetrical threats in cyberspace. The center looks to improve cyber operations, information warfare, electronic countermeasures and information security, among other areas. Its efforts are prompted as the military finds itself fighting or preparing to fight more and more in cyberspace, in conjunction with the traditional domains of sea, air, land and space.

As a result of recent federal legislative and administrative activity, government agencies are expected to launch significant modernizations of their cybersecurity systems, get offensive with hackers and take a more strategic approach to risk. Combined, these policy directives promise to transform our government into a robust digital society, gaining greater resiliency to cyber threats by leveraging opportunities while reinforcing standards and procedures.

Here’s a breakdown of the key components of the four policies:

This month is a crucial time for the U.S. Navy, as far as information technology goes. Its Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems is developing the request for proposal for its Next Generation Enterprise Network Re-compete contract that will provide information technology services, including cloud services, for more than 700,000 Navy and Marine Corps users.

Whether a Social Security number from an individual, or financial information from a company, hackers continue to find ways to steal data from millions of Americans. To combat these crimes, the idea of active cyber defense has arisen on Capitol Hill with the introduction of the Active Cyber Defense Certainty (ACDC) Act.

In January, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen voiced measured support for empowering companies to be more active in their approach to cybersecurity. These active measures would allow companies to access other computer networks in order to thwart cyber attacks, monitor the hackers, collect evidence or destroy stolen files.

Thoughts by experts about the ability of the military to defend cyberspace are centering around the concept of improved partnerships, which may be outside of the Defense Department’s usual practices. A lot can be gained from the insight of coalition partners and think tanks—wisdom and information that the DOD may not have tapped into, experts said.

Machine learning has advanced to the point where more sophisticated methods can be more effective at cyber event detection than traditional methods, an expert says. Along with emerging methods, access to large amounts of “fresh” data is important for processing, determining trends and identifying malicious activity.

Teams looking at how to use machine learning need to consider different methods, suggested Mark Russinovich, chief technology officer, Microsoft Azure, at the AFCEA Defensive Cyber Operations Symposium (DCOS) in Baltimore on May 17.

Between 1.5 and 3 million cyber professionals will be needed worldwide by the year 2020 according to various studies. However, the majority of individuals currently entering the field are male; estimates are only 5 percent to 11 percent of professionals entering technical fields are women on a global basis. It is critical to bring more women into cyber fields not only to fortify the cyber workforce with more talent but also to apply the power of diversity that leads to better solutions.

If you think of the cyber threat as Godzilla, you can see the need for a framework that optimizes limited resources. As the beast attacks the building, those individuals located on the ground floor—for example the architects and engineers—worry about being stepped on by its feet. Those on the next floor up, the systems engineers, see the knees and want protection from being kicked. The next level, the incident responders, see the claws and worry about what those claws can do. Higher in the building, the operators see the shoulders and are focused on how big the threat might be based on the shoulder size. The customers at the top only see teeth and flames.

In her unique, dual-hatted role as director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and commander of the Joint Force Headquarters–Department of Defense Information Network (JFHQ-DODIN), Vice Adm. Nancy Norton, USN, is pushing to provide the best communication and information technology capabilities to the Defense Department (DOD).

“Everything we do is to support the warfighter and increase their ability to accomplish their mission,” she said. The admiral was the keynote speaker opening the AFCEA Defensive Cyber Operations Symposium (DCOS) in Baltimore on May 15.