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The U.S. Navy is investing significant time and effort to secure the waters that surround Latin America and the Caribbean, but not through force or interdiction. Instead, the military branch is embracing the idea that “together we can do more” by reaching out to countries in the area. This effort involves exchanging information and delivering necessary aid through an annual event designed to improve relations among nations. By participating in these activities, personnel forge long-lasting connections and provide immediate help to those who need it.

Buttressed by modern warfighting realities and battered by fiscal realities, the United Kingdom is laying the groundwork for a major overhaul of its military force structure. Significant studies currently underway aim at building a new defense architecture that both provides for any anticipated contingency and enables flexibility to act in new ways against unforeseen threats.

While the world’s attention largely has been focused on areas of conflict, one NATO nation has quietly developed an indigenous defense industry that is poised to be a significant player in international military procurement. By focusing on developing technologies and capabilities within reach, Turkey has developed a domestic defense technology base that spans all military activities on land, at sea and in the air.

This summer I attended a series of thought-provoking conferences, ranging from business technology to clean energy to cybersecurity and network integration. Collectively, they suggest that we’re living in a “golden age” of technological innovation, but they also highlighted a growing gap between increasingly interactive capabilities and the ability to provide security at several levels, ranging from individual privacy to critical infrastructure protection. The bottom line is that nothing I heard makes me sleep better at night.

The Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) is working to keep U.S. citizens safe from dirty bombs by conducting exercises on the other side of the world. Members representing the initiative recently wrapped up a three-scenario tabletop exercise in Mongolia to help the country prevent terrorists from obtaining its nuclear or radiological material.

A good hacker knows that a good hack involves three things: 1. Vulnerability 2. Exploitation 3. Maintenance of access Talking to that secretary gave us a lot of information -- the antivirus vendor and version of Internet Explorer being the most important among other things. This tells us what the system is vulnerable to -- in this case IE6 vulnerabilities. Knowing the antivirus lets us know what vulnerabilities will be detected or stopped unless they are re-written or modified. With very little work we can probably find a way to circumvent any signatures based antivirus for a payload and a working exploit on a system with a profile similar to that described by the secretary. Now we have both a vulnerability and a method with which we will exploit it. Finally, the secretary informed us that patches to systems are done on Tuesdays -- so we can have up to a week after successful exploitation to develop a system to maintain access either through reverse shells or an autonomous setup, which should be easy to do once we are in and get the lay of the network. It's very easy to find and package exploits with the wide availability of large databases of viruses and exploits...

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?

Rear Adm. John M. Richardson, USN, has been nominated for appointment to the rank of vice admiral and assignment as commander, Submarine Force, U.S.

TASC Incorporated, Chantilly, Virginia, has named Mark Leary chief information security officer.

As part of the U.S. Army's push to encourage the next generation of engineers and designers through STEM programs, a group of local teachers got to see first hand through the eyes of a soldier using night-vision goggles.