“The DOD has made great
strides during the past five years in developing cyber warfare specialties”
(Franz, 2011 pg. 87).
Fifty years ago if someone were to tell top U.S. Military
leaders that they would be fighting war in cyberspace, they would have most
likely laughed as they wrote letters and made phone calls. However, currently a
lot of the communication within the U.S. Military is now done through emails,
texting, and even Facebook. Oh yea, the Air Force even flies aircraft from a
cockpit set up in front of a computer monitor. That being said, in the past decade the U.S Military
has found a need to develop a force that can communicate and fight in
cyberspace. For that reason this research will discuss the where cyberspace
technicians fit in the D.O.D. and the challenges they face.
One of the first things many people thinks when they see
someone in an Air Force uniform is that they are a pilot. However, a successful
air operation depends on much more than just a skilled pilot, and cyber
communication plays a role in almost all military functions (Franz, 2011). For
this reason, cyberspace technicians have been assigned to direct and plan
offensive and defensive activities through cyberspace. Defensively, cyberspace
commanders would assemble teams to protect installation networks that are
critical to executing the mission. They have also been directed to plan,
design, and use cyber warfare tools and weapons (Franz, 2011). However,
developing a war fighting culture for cyber warfare professionals can be
difficult. The offensive mindset of keeping networks running comes natural to
most, but the defensive part doesn’t come easily and extra effort has been
required. That being said, D.O.D cyberspace technicians have answered the
defensive challenge and maybe even taken it a little too far. It has almost
become comical to log on to a government computer. People who have done this
know they have to sit through the five different popups that come up warning
the user about threats. Meanwhile, the system performs a hardware audit ensuring
that no one has changed any parts and don’t plan on plugging in that memory
stick unless you want a communications technician knocking on your office door.
Nevertheless, it’s obvious that the U.S Military needs to continue to develop
and strengthen its cyberspace capabilities. The question is how much will it
grow? The U.S Air Force stemmed from the Army when government officials
realized they needed a branch dedicated to air superiority. Could we see a new
military branch dedicated cyber warfare? I guess only time will tell.
2 comments:
Now there is an idea -- U.S. Cyber Warfare branch, and not just a department. You have a good point that the Air Force was created because of a new technology and we now have another new technology that requires specialized skills. Instead of air bases and fighters, they could have backbones, networks, and software. Since much of internet security now involves encryption, the military probably has those departments deeply involved already. New branch of military could bring the different groups together and allow for a more standardized approach to keeping on top of technology.
A whole entire cyber security department would make sense for the U.S. government. It seems that there is a large amount of employment opportunities for anyone looking to work in the cyber security field. Especially cyber security jobs offered by the government. They are looking to hire professionals who have the skills and can fight these type of attacks. For example, countless grants are provided by the government for any persons wanting to study in the cyber security area. In addition, existing government agencies are recruiting graduates from the cyber security field.
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