CyberWarfare

Deterrence Doesn’t Work in Cyberspace: CCSA

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WASHINGTON: Cyberspace is an inherently unstable realm where traditional strategic concepts of deterrence and defense break down – and it’s the United States that has the most to lose from that instability, warns a forthcoming report from the Cyber Conflict Studies Association.

“The Cyber Conflict Studies Association’s two-year study has lead to the sobering conclusion that the current strategic cyber environment is fundamentally unstable,” said the report, previewed for the press today at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC. (Click here to download). Cyberspace is “marked by an inability to establish credible deterrence.” It is so much easier to attack than to defend, and so difficult to figure out who attacked you, that attackers cannot be reliably deterred either by strengthening your defenses or by threatening retaliation. Keep reading →

Published July 10, 2012 at 1:30 PM

Military Debates Who Should Pull The Trigger For A Cyber Attack

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VIRGINIA BEACH, VA: The American military is intrigued by the offensive uses for cyber-warfare, but it is struggling to figure out how to do it. What impact can cyber weapons have on the battlefield? What organizations should take the lead? And who makes the decision to pull the trigger? Keep reading →

Published May 22, 2012 at 4:45 PM

Navy Warships Brace For Cyber Attacks

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WASHINGTON: As the Navy prepares to push further into the Western Pacific, service leaders are doing all they can to prepare their warships for potential cyberattacks, the head of the Navy’s surface warfare fleet said today.

Cyberwarfare remains the preeminent threat to U.S. naval forces around the world, Vice Adm. Richard Hunt, commander of naval surface forces, said today. The Navy, along with the rest of the Pentagon and U.S. government, are constantly pursuing ways to fortify government networks from cyberattacks. Many of these attacks are alledgedly launched by China or their allies across the globe. Aside from protecting its key networks, Navy leaders are also looking at ways to keep the fleet combat ready in the wake of a cyberattack. Keep reading →

Published January 10, 2012 at 5:13 PM

Alexander Will Be Last Intel Officer To Head NSA, Hayden Says

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CORRECTION Washington: Gen. Keith Alexander will likely be the last military intelligence officer to lead the National Security Agency, former CIA director Mike Hayden said today.

“Keith Alexander [will be] the last intelligence officer to be the director of the National Security Agency,” was the hypothesis offered by Hayden during a intelligence and national security symposium sponsored by the Center For Strategic and International Studies today.

“They will fill the position, based on the combatant command needs of the four-star cyber command commander, and the [NSA director] position will be the additional duties assigned. And that has long term meaning,” the former CIA chief added.

In other words, whoever DoD chooses to fill the NSA slot — be it a general officer with a intelligence background or not — that decision will be determined by what the department needs from NSA, to support cyber command rather than NSA.

NSA, according to Hayden, is primarily responsible for providing intelligence and analysis for DoD’s combatant commands and national customers. On the other hand, Cyber Command will be the preeminent cyberwarfare arm for the entire Defense Department, similar to Special Operations Command. Keep reading →

Published September 7, 2011 at 1:14 PM

DoD Flies Blind In Cyber Spending: GAO

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Washington: The Defense Department’s highly-anticipated cyberwarfare strategy is finally in place. All the Pentagon has to do now is figure out how to pay for it.

That won’t be easy because DoD and the services are flying blind as they race to put dollars behind the department’s new strategy, according to a new Government Accountability Office study. Keep reading →

Published August 1, 2011 at 9:48 AM