Defense Goes for "Black Core" to Protect Information

The U.S. Defense Department is focusing on protecting information rather than on the network that carries it. The department is developing "a black core with a transport mechanism" to secure vital information, according to Dr. Ronald Jost, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for C3, Space and Spectrum. Jost told a MILCOM 2010 Tuesday afternoon panel on cybersecurity that the department's wireless edge is extremely secure. It is the wireline that is vulnerable, and the solution is not another high wall but an integrated security and information assurance approach. The network needs a layered defense-not just one high wall, which is not sufficient for security, but three or even four walls integrated with network management. One solution does not work, as managers can assume that foes can get over one or two high walls. Jost said that the use of tokens is working. The key is that an adversary cannot change data, he noted. Networks also can benefit from persistent monitoring, in which managers know where everyone is going in the network and whether they touch data. If he could have one capability emerge from research and development, it would be a solid cross domain solution that is impenetrable, Jost declared.