Great minds will converge in one laboratory to create platforms with minds of their own. After decades as the birthplace of unmanned systems, the Naval Research Laboratory is building a new facility where researchers from many disciplines can collaborate. Their focus will be on building, testing and evaluating autonomous machines that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with warfighters.

With the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and I was both sobered and renewed by the way the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) remembered the eight people it lost during the attack on the Pentagon in a simple but eloquent ceremony at the National Maritime Intelligence Center (NMIC). What impressed me was the palpable sense of mission at ONI driven by personal loses that is motivating my shipmates at Naval Intelligence to both punish those who attacked us on 9/11 and to protect our nation's flank from a deadly disruptive maritime attack. Given what I know about the rest of the IC I don't believe that ONI is unique in the IC with its sense of mission for protecting our security, but rather emblematic of a community that is doing a difficult job as best it can. Having been a part Naval Intelligence that wore down and wore out the Soviet naval strategic threat to the free world, I drove away from Suitland feeling not just connected to this current generation of intelligence professionals, but confident that that the security of our nation is in good hands.

I know some guys who are really good at external validation of enterprise security posture. There are some folks so good that nothing will totally stop them. The history of computer science makes me think world-class-best folks like that will always be with us and there will never be a system that is perfectly defendable. But still, there are steps you can take to dramatically enhance the security of your enterprise. I've reviewed some of these before, like ensuring endpoints are protected from malware, using defense in depth to enhance your security posture, mitigating IPv6 security threats, and studying the threat. With this post I'd like to mention another capability that belongs in your defense in depth tool suite: the Microsoft Security news, products, updates and tools site at http://microsoft.com/security The security site at Microsoft is a way for enterprise and home users to tap into three key security centers: The Microsoft Security Engineering Center, The Microsoft Security Response Center, and The Microsoft Malware Protection Center. It is good to know all three of those, but the best way to interface with them, in my opinion, is through the security site...

In keeping with the format of this blog, I like to occasionally profile intell agencies to provide a bit of focus. Now is a good time to explore the NRO. One of the best ways to become familiar with this elusive agency is to attend the SPACE ISR Conference that AFCEA is hosting - a.k.a. the Fall Intelligence Symposium in mid October in Chantilly.

A soldier in harm’s way has no greater ally than other soldiers watching his or her back. That trust is the key component of a good unit. Usually, the bond of trust that only members of the military share is built during training and missions. That trust is priceless in theater, but what about other environments? Dark alleys, sketchy neighborhoods, the bleachers of an away game – soldiers have that covered. But, who has your back in cyber space?

In the next few years, the U.S. military could field a portable, laser backpack device developed by the University of California, Berkeley, which will provide three-dimensional maps of buildings.

Last month I expressed concern that the growing gap between online functionality and security demanded a rethinking of several key aspects of security—more focus on tagging and tracking data, rethinking resilience and robustness, clearer security policies, and a need to change people’s behavior to reflect more security awareness.

Obstacles ranging from passive obstinance to active hostility are vexing efforts by the U.S. Pacific Command to maintain security across the vast Asia-Pacific region. The command has built a structure of stability throughout the region based on diplomatic and military cooperation with most of the several dozen nations that populate the hemisphere. However, new military challenges are putting plans and resources to the test.