Navy Moves to Meet Information Age Challenges

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2009 – The Navy is merging its information technology, intelligence and communications operations into one organization to better address Information Age challenges, including threats to computer networks, the Navy's top officer said here yesterday. “If we as a Navy are to remain dominant in this Information Age or Cyber Age, or whatever moniker you choose to put on it, I think that we have to take advantage of the new opportunities that exist, such as the vast stores of collected data -- information and intelligence that often lie at rest, unrecoverable, unavailable and untapped,” Navy Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, said during remarks at a Center for Strategic and International Studies-sponsored event at the Washington Hilton Hotel.

Because the Navy must capitalize on its ability to access, filter, analyze and then disseminate information to warfighting commanders for action in real time, Roughead said, it’s consolidating its intelligence directorate, communications networks and related information technology capabilities to form a single new organization: the deputy chief of naval operations for information dominance.

The Navy also is standing up Fleet Cyber Command, Roughead said, to be operated by the reconstituted U.S. 10th Fleet. The 10th Fleet was involved in efforts to thwart enemy submarines during World War II. The Air Force and Army also are standing up organizations that focus on information operations and network security.

Fleet Cyber Command will be a subordinate unit to U.S. Cyber Command, the formation of which was directed by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on June 23.

Cyberspace presents “a huge potential vulnerability for us because of our dependence on the electronic world for communications – for everything we do,” Gates said during a Sept. 16 speech at the Air Force Association conference at the National Harbor in Maryland. It is important, Gates said, for the Defense Department and the military services to integrate the different information technology and communications elements “from exploitation to defense,” to achieve unity of effort.

Today’s Navy requires “uninhibited access to assured communication capabilities in cyberspace” to operate, Roughead said. However, he added, ever-present online saboteurs with various allegiances and intent make cyberspace a daily battlefield.

“We must be prepared to operate in cyberspace when it’s denied, and then we must also be able to deny space when it’s required or when it’s appropriate,” Roughead said.

People are key in cyberspace, Roughead said, and that’s why the Navy is moving its information technology, intelligence, information warfare, oceanography and space cadre specialists into a new Information Dominance Corps.

Now numbering about 44,000 officers, enlisted members and civilians, the corps is slated to add 1,000 trained technicians in the near future, Roughead said. Military members will retain their current branches and skill ratings, he added.

The consolidation of information technology, communications, intelligence and other assets moves away from the Navy’s tradition of stove-piped organizations, Roughead said, which “have really caused us to sub-optimize our ability to aggregate combat capability and the movement of information in ways that can maximize the effectiveness of a fleet, of a unit or of an individual.”

Military officials have found that new technology has mitigated concerns that battlefield data collected by unmanned aerial vehicles and other methods in overseas combat zones would be overwhelming to commanders, Navy Vice Adm. David J. Dorsett, director of naval intelligence, told reporters at the Hilton after Roughead’s speech.

U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Dorsett said, have successfully employed a series of tools that “enabled operational commanders, down to the brigade and, in several cases, the battalion and that type of level, to get large quantities of information."

Another aspect of this tool set, Dorsett continued, involves systems that can rapidly "fuse, synthesize and make sense of this tremendous volume of data" by overlaying or sorting it according to the category of intelligence, such as technical- or human-based.

"That overlaying then provides clarity and leads to operations against adversaries, insurgents, terrorists,” Dorsett said, noting the system has been “very, very successful” over the past few years.

The Navy is working with other agencies to apply these proven information-technology tools in the maritime security environment, Dorsett said.

“We are using the Navy’s intelligence structure and the Navy’s oceanographers, overlaying information concerning how pirates operate – trends, activities, et cetera – with what the weather looks like over a period of time,” Dorsett said. That information, he added, is shared with U.S. partners to determine where anti-pirate forces need to operate.

“And, what we’ve seen is fairly significant successes in putting forces in the right place -- really over the last few weeks – to counter pirates in their attempts to hijack ships,” Dorsett said.

Biographies: Navy Adm. Gary Roughead Navy Vice Adm. David Dorsett Related Articles: Lynn Calls for Collaboration in Establishing Cyber Security Gates Establishes New Cyber Subcommand

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=56063

Lynn Calls for Collaboration in Establishing Cyber Security

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2009 – Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn said the department’s culture regarding cyber security issues must change, and become more robust.

The deputy secretary spoke at a gathering celebrating the start of National Cyber Security Awareness Month here.

The Defense Department is responsible for ensuring the “dot-mil” domain remains safe, while the Department of Homeland Security oversees security of the “dot-gov” domain, Lynn explained. Private companies and non-profit groups have responsibility over “dot.com” and “dot.org,” while academia has “dot.edu.”

But none of this works unless every American takes cyber security seriously, Lynn said. “There is no exaggerating our dependence on information networks,” he said. “In our case, we are a 21st Century military that simply cannot function without it.”

There also is no exaggerating the threat with its source, its speed and its scope. Lynn said the department is facing many threats — from teenage hackers to organized crime networks to attacks by foreign intelligence services. “We’re seeing assaults come at an astonishing speed – not hours, minutes or even seconds – but in milliseconds at network speed,” he said.

The scope of the assaults is incredible and the mission ahead for DoD is jaw-dropping. “We have hundreds of different organizations, we have 15,000 networks administered by about 90,000 employees. We have 3 million employees who use 7 million computers and IT devices,” Lynn said.

The department must establish a culture of cyber security, the deputy secretary said. The department must certify all those network administrators, “training our 3 million employees that when you log on, you are the front line of our cyber defenses.”

The department is looking to build “leap ahead” cyber security programs. “We’re also improving our command structure – building a new cyber command to better coordinate the day-to-day defense of our networks,” he said.

Lynn said DoD stands ready to share the technology and expertise of the department with Homeland Security and others who need the cyber-defense capability.

“It would be unwise, indeed irresponsible, if we didn’t somehow leverage the technical expertise of the department – including the Defense Information Systems Agency and the National Security Agency,” he said.

The department will ensure that any defense fielded will “uphold and respect civil liberties,” Lynn said.

DoD must also cooperate with nations around the globe, Lynn said. Attacks use computers around the world and protecting the United States means the nation must address complex issues of national sovereignty and international law.

No one can address cyber security alone, Lynn said. Government agencies must work with others, and private industries need government to help establish standards. “Most of all, every leader, every employee in government, industry and academia need to understand the vulnerabilities and responsibilities we share,” he said.

But cyber security is still a young industry, Lynn said. He compared the cyber world to military aviation. Military aviation recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, which went from flying a biplane around Fort Myer, Va., to global missions anywhere, anytime, in any weather.

“By that measure, it’s only 1928,” Lynn said. “This year marks the 20th year of the World Wide Web. In other words, in terms of cyber security, we’re still in the era of biplanes and dirigibles. We’re still in the dawn of the Information Age. We still have decades of change and challenge ahead of us: Decades of innovations and technologies we can’t even imagine.

“To be sure, there will be set backs and failures along the way. But if history is any guide, this too is a challenge we can meet together and solve together.”
Biographies:
William J. Lynn III

Previously...

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=54890

Gates Establishes New Cyber Subcommand

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 24, 2009 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates signed a memo yesterday establishing a subcommand focused on cyber security, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters today.

Details about the new U.S. Cyber Command, which will report to U.S. Strategic Command, still are unfolding. But Gates reportedly plans to recommend Army Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, to receive his fourth star and take on the additional responsibility of commanding the cyber command.

Initial indications are that the cyber command will have its headquarters at Fort Meade, Md., pending results of an environmental impact statement.

“This is not some sort of new and necessarily different authorities that have been granted,” Morrell told reporters today. “This is about trying to figure out how we, within this department, within the United States military, can better coordinate the day-to-day defense, protection and operation of the department’s computer networks.”

Morrell emphasized that the new command will focus solely on military networks.

Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III noted the importance of cyber security to national defense last week at the Center for International and Strategic Studies.

“Just like our national dependence, there is simply no exaggerating our military dependence on our information networks: the command and control of our forces, the intelligence and logistics on which they depend, the weapons technologies we develop and field – they all depend on our computer systems and networks,” Lynn said. “Indeed, our 21st century military simply cannot function without them.”

Because cyberspace is critical to joint military operations, it’s critical that the Defense Department ensure they’re protected, Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh, a Defense Department spokesman, told American Forces Press Service.

“To do this, the Department of Defense needs to ensure it has the right balance of integrated cyber capabilities,” Butterbaugh said. “We’re increasingly dependent on cyberspace, and there’s a growing array of cyber threats. To effectively address this risk to its networks, the Defense Department requires a command possessing the required technical capability and which remains focused on streamlining cyberspace operations.”

Morrell called the standup of Cyber Command an internal reorganization that will consolidate and streamline its cyber capabilities within a single command. The effort in no way represents any attempt by the department to “militarize” cyberspace or take over the responsibility for defending civilian networks, he said, noting that responsibility falls to the Homeland Security Department.

“This is part of a holistic, governmentwide effort to better organize and situate ourselves to deal with this very real threat,” he said. “And it is a complement to efforts that are taking place elsewhere within the United States government.”

Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated during a June 4 address at the Center for International and Strategic Studies that a decision on the new subcommand was in the works.

“There will be a cyber capability at the tactical level, and … we do deploy it forward,” Cartwright said. “There is an operational level, which tends to be based regionally, and there is a strategic capability. And we will, over the next few days, start to roll out the organizational constructs associated with that.”

Biographies:
Army Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander
Related Sites:
National Security Agency

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Cybersecurity Poses Unprecedented Challenge to National Security, Lynn Says
Questions Abound in Cyber Theater of Operations, Vice Chairman Says

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