U.S. CYBER COMMANDER AND NSA CHIEF COMMENTS ON CYBER OPERATIONS

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Cybercom Chief Discusses Importance of Cyber Operations
By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md., April 14, 2015 – Cyber is an operational domain, and military leaders are going to have to understand its importance and the opportunities and challenges of operating in the domain, Navy Adm. Michael S. Rogers said here today.

Rogers, the commander of U.S. Cyber Command, director of the National Security Agency, and chief of the Central Security Service, spoke at the Navy League’s 50th annual Sea-Air-Space Exposition. The admiral participated in a panel entitled, “Cyber, Electromagnetic War and Information Dominance.”
Rogers commented on the speed and growth of the cyber domain.

“The world around us is changing,” he said. “The spectrum and the network are converging. That represents vulnerability and opportunity. How do we set ourselves up to take advantage that opportunity while addressing that vulnerability?”

Cyber is an operational domain in which the U.S. military conducts many operations, “many of them like we do in any other operational domain,” Rogers said.

Understanding Cyber Culture

Getting traditional warfighters to understand the importance of cyber operations -- both defense and offense -- requires an understanding of culture and ethos that is more important than just technology, Rogers said.

“We have got to get beyond focusing just on the technical piece here,” Rogers said. “It’s about ethos. It’s about culture. It’s about warfighting. It’s about how do you operationalize a network on a warfighting platform, and what does that mean?”
He added, “It ain’t just a bumper sticker and it’s not just a slogan.”

In the cyber domain, the emphasis on operations will drive how to man, train and equip organizations, the admiral said. It also drives how the organization is structured, he added, and what operational concepts are deployed.

“It’s about how we are going to fight,” he said.

Capitalizing on Information Dominance

The Navy and the other services must put themselves in a position to capitalize on information dominance, the admiral said.

In June, the Navy will mark the 73rd anniversary of the Battle of Midway, said Rogers, noting that Midway changed the tide of World War II in the Pacific. An overmatched U.S. fleet sank four Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carriers in a desperate battle off the strategic island of Midway.

It was through signals intelligence, code-breaking and communications that then-Navy Adm. Chester Nimitz knew where to position the few U.S. aircraft carriers he had in the region to win the battle.

“As an information warfare officer, as an information dominance officer, I take great pride in the role and capability that our predecessors brought to really make a critical difference in an operational outcome,” Rogers said.

Looking forward, cyber warriors must be able to provide the intelligence to win those battles and more, Rogers said.

How much better it would be in the future, he posited, “if we could not only provide those operational commanders great situational and environmental awareness, but what if we could provide commanders the ability to attempt to bring non-kinetic fires to bear, to give commanders assured command and control, because opponents are going to be contesting our command and control?”

Rogers said he’s pleased with the progress the maritime services have made in regard to cyber and the spectrum. But more needs to be done, he added.
The services, he said, need to factor cyber into every decision.
“Now we are in a totally different operational world,” he said.

THE TACTICAL EDGE: MARINES AND CYBER OPERATIONS

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David Anzualda, a cyber network operator with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit command element, peers out the back of an MV-22B Osprey as he crosses decks from the USS Bataan to the USS San Antonio, Dec. 15, 2012. This was part of the 26th MEU's third major training exercise of their pre-deployment training process. The 26th MEU operates continuously around the globe, providing a forward-deployed, sea-based quick-reaction force. The MEU is a Marine air-ground task force capable of conducting amphibious operations, crisis response and limited contingency operations. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Kyle N. Runnels

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Marines Focused at Tactical Edge of Cyber, Commander Says
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va., June 10, 2013 - What differentiates his command from Army, Navy and Air Force cyber operations is a focus on the forward-deployed nature of America's expeditionary force in readiness, the commander of Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command said during a recent interview here.

As commander of MARFORCYBER, Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills heads one of four service components of U.S. Cyber Command. The Marine command stood up in January 2010.

Today, 300 Marines, federal civilians and contractors are performing cyber operations, Mills said. That number, he added, will grow to just under 1,000, at least until fiscal year 2016.

Each of the services' cyber commands protects its own networks, Mills noted.

"Where we differ is that we look more at tactical-level cyber operations and how we will be able to provide our forward-deployed ... Marine Air-Ground Task Force commanders with the capability to reach back into the cyber world [at home] to have their deployed units supported," the general said.

The basic structure for deployed Marine units, he said, is an air-ground task force that integrates ground, aviation and logistics combat elements under a common command element.

"We're more focused at the tactical level, the tactical edge of cyber operations, in supporting our forward-deployed commanders, and that's what we should do," Mills said.

It's an important capability, the general said, and one that will become more important and effective for deployed commanders in the years ahead.

"Cyber to me is kind of like artillery or air support," Mills explained. "The actual weapon systems are well to your rear, back here in the continental United States, and what you need to be able to do is request that support be given to you and have it take effect wherever you're operating."

The Marine Corps cyber mission is to advise the commander of U.S. Cyber Command, Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander, on the capabilities of the Marines within the cyber world and how to best use those forces in accomplishing the Cybercom mission, Mills said.

"That's our first job," he added. "Our second job is to be able to conduct cyber operations across all three lines of cyber operations -– defensive and offensive cyber ops –- so we have to man, train and equip Marine forces to accomplish those missions."

In testimony to Congress in March, Alexander described the three Cybercom lines, or missions.

-- A Cyber National Mission Force and its teams will help to defend the country against national-level threats;

-- A Cyber Combat Mission Force and its teams will be assigned to the operational control of individual combatant commanders to support their objectives; and

-- A Cyber Protection Force and its teams will help to operate and defend the Defense Department's information environment.

Of the nearly 1,000 MARFORCYBER forces that will come online between now and fiscal 2016, Mills estimated that a third will be in uniform, a third will be federal civilian employees, and a third will be contractors.

MARFORCYBER has Marines in the joint community who work throughout Cybercom at Fort Meade in Maryland. The Marine Corps cyber organization also is developing teams to be tasked by Cybercom to conduct operations across the spectrum of cyber operations.

"It's very similar to what we do today," Mills said. "The units train and go forward from the United States and work for other commanders well forward, and cyber will be the same way. We'll ship forces to Cybercom when requested, fully trained, fully manned, fully equipped, ready to operate."

MARFORCYBER is a full-up component command under Cybercom along with the Air Force, Navy and Army, the general said.

"All four of the component commanders talk regularly to each other and meet regularly at Cybercom to coordinate our growth, coordinate our requirements, [provide] input to Cybercom and take its guidance and direction, and operate together in big exercises like Cyber Flag," he said.

Cyber Flag is an annual exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., which Cybercom conducts with U.S. interagency and international partners.

For the Marines, the smallest U.S. military service branch, contractors play an important part in cyber, the general said.

"One of the challenges of cyber is that it's such a dynamic environment," he explained. "You need people who are educated and current in their specialties and who are available to stay on the job for long periods of time, whereas Marines come and go in the normal assignment process."

Contractors have skill sets that aren't always available in the active-duty Marine Corps, and can fit neatly into short-term projects, he added.

"They all operate under the same clearance requirements, the same authorities, the same rules," the general said. "That's one of the things that make them so expensive. They come at a cost, but you have to bear it to make sure that your cyber capabilities are current and that you stay on the cutting edge."

In the newest domain of warfare, the battlefield is evolving, Mills said, and Marine commanders have come to understand the impact cyber can have on defensive and offensive operations.

"I think cyber commanders now understand when you go forward you have to be able to defend your systems against intrusion by other states, by rogue elements, and even by hobbyists who are just trying to break in and infiltrate your nets," the general said. "But they're also beginning to understand the positive effects cyber can have in your operations against potential enemies. ... It's a very valuable tool in that quiver of arrows that a commander takes forward, and they want to understand how it operates."

In the new domain, even a discussion of weapons veers off the traditional path. A cyber weapon, Mills said, "can be something as simple as a desktop computer. It's also a vulnerability to you, because it's a way in which the enemy can enter your Web system if you put the wrong hardware on there or open the wrong attachment or email."

Cyber weapons are much more nuanced than big cannons and large bombs and weapons systems.

"The armories of the cyber world are very sophisticated computers and very sophisticated smart people who sit behind those computers and work those issues for you," the general said.

Mills said he's an infantry officer by trade, so he tends to view everything he does through a combat-arms prism.

"I think the definition of combat arms is expanding a little bit these days," he said. "I don't think cyber is any longer a communicator's environment -- it's an operator's environment. So we want that cyber expert to sit in the operations shop right next to the air expert, right next to the artillery expert, because we think that's where it belongs."

Mills pointed out the contrast between a Marine "kitted out" for battle with a Marine dressed for a cyber operation who may be sitting behind a desk in the United States.

"He's got access to a huge computer system that allows him to operate within that domain," the general said. "He may go home at night and never have to deploy forward. But he's providing support to deployed forces, he's conducting actions against designated targets, he's doing a lot of things -- but from the foxhole or the fighting hole at his desk, rather than some foxhole or fighting hole forward."
 

GEN. HYTEN SPEAKS ABOUT CYBER OPERATIONS AND CHANGE

 

Lt. Gen. John E. Hyten speaks about how cyber operations are a clear catalyst for change in the art and science of modern warfare during the Space Foundation's Cyber 1.3 luncheon April 8, 2013 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Hyten is the Air Force Space Command vice commander. U.S. Air Force photo/Duncan Wood

FROM: U.S. AIR FORCE SPACE COMMAND
Cyberspace: Fundamental to joint fight
by Maj. Christina Hoggatt
Air Force Space Command Public Affairs

4/10/2013 - COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AFNS) -- Cyber operations are a clear catalyst for change in the art and science of modern warfare, Lt. Gen. John Hyten, the Air Force Space Command vice commander, said during the Space Foundation's Cyber 1.3 luncheon here, April 8.

Hyten emphasized the importance of getting back to the basics in cyber, the efficacy and potential sticking points in creating a joint information environment, and the distinctions between cyber operations, information technology, and weapon systems.

"The chief of staff of the Air Force just approved weapons system designation for six of our cyber weapons systems," he said. "We're gaining ground in normalizing cyber operations in the Air Force."

The Air Force is also integrating those cyber capabilities with other joint capabilities to meet combatant commanders' requirements. He noted that all services are endorsing a force presentation model that will build mission ready teams to support both U.S. Cyber Command and combatant command missions.

He went on to speak in support of the joint information environment.

"As the cyber core function lead integrator for the Air Force, we're committed to the goals of the JIE, but we need to make sure we don't reset any of the progress we've made in network defense, network security and cyber normalization," Hyten said.

Though the general believes in the JIE concept, he is concerned that the single security architecture remains undefined, rigorous operational processes have not been put in place or tested, and there are still significant questions about resourcing this endeavor.

"Commercialization can also reduce our need for larger server infrastructures -- they shift the significant operations and maintenance burden onto the commercial sector," he said.

He also pointed out that since cyberspace is such a sophisticated environment, both the Department of Defense and the private sector need to agree on some basic definitions.

"While our Airmen have mastered the ability to communicate through cyberspace, our inability to communicate about cyberspace, the domain, and cyberspace operations in particular, frequently causes confusion and the inability to effectively and efficiently bring cyber capabilities to the fight," Hyten said. "We won't operationalize cyberspace until we operationalize our lexicon."

Using the three recently approved lines of operation for cyber to illustrate his point, Hyten said the key to understanding this new warfighting domain will be to understand the difference between cyberspace operations and information technology.

"Each of these lines of operation is pivotal to maintaining the freedom to operate in and through cyberspace and enable the exchange of information for space and cyberspace operations," he said.

The different areas of cyber all have unique definitions, Hyten said, adding that many times cyberspace and information technology are often confused.

"If we allow these definitions to become more than that, if they become too unwieldy, they lose their meaning and they become weapons in a religious debate between different elements of our force," he said.

The general went on to suggest that by using the foundational definitions found in the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 and Joint Publication 3-12, Cyberspace Operations, the joint force will develop a more clear understanding of cyberspace, cyberspace operations and information technology.

"Despite the changes ahead, one thing remains certain, the cyberspace domain is a priority for this Nation, for the Department of Defense and for the U.S. Air Force," Hyten said. "Our success on the battlefield is one that depends on the timely movement of information. We must be ready to meet any adversary in cyberspace that presents themselves."

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE COMMITMENT TO CYBERSECUTITY

The U.S. Cyberbrigade On Parade.  Credit:   U.S. DOD

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Official Reaffirms DOD Commitment to Cybersecurity

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2012 – The Defense Department remains vigilant and committed to cybersecurity, especially since its cyber operations present a target for hackers, a senior Pentagon official said here today.

Speaking at the Telework Exchange’s fall town meeting, David L. DeVries, the Defense Department’s deputy chief information officer for joint information enterprise, said the department is an attractive target for potential cyber attacks, due in part to its size.

"DOD is a large magnet for the security vulnerability side of the house," he said. "Just like they would like to hack into Wall Street or a financial institution, they would also like to hack into the Department of Defense and other federal agencies here."

Defense Department officials take cybersecurity very seriously, DeVries said, and that creates pressure on the department’s information technology personnel to stay vigilant.

"It gets exponentially more complex to ensure the security of the whole thing," he said. "And that’s why I have to keep security at the [forefront]."

DeVries said when he turns on his personal computer at home, it automatically seeks updates from Microsoft and implements those changes. "So Microsoft is keeping track of my computer for me," he said. "And it’s saying, ‘Hey, I found something and I updated this thing. You need to do this now, Mr. DeVries.’ So I … say, ‘OK, do it.’"

As the Defense Department moves away from laptops and personal computers and toward smart technology, DeVries said, officials face a difficult challenge. "There are more vendors with these [smartphones] that we’re trying to get connected into the network than we can possibly keep track of," he said.

To police this issue, he added, rules and policies have been published.

"We’re now starting to enforce it," he said. "I’m looking at it from an end-device capability: Are you complying with the measures I’ve put forth?"

DeVries said he was shocked when he learned, during an earlier panel, of a general lack of security for personal information when people use smartphones.

"What’s amazing is, I thought everything I bought was checked out," he said, waving his smartphone. "So I thought all those [applications] were checked by somebody."

A panelist in the earlier discussion said he had a report that said 80 percent of the apps on his smartphone are not compliant with security requirements, DeVries said.

"[This is] my personal stuff I’m worried about there, and now I’ve put it into my workspace. … That’s a scary thought," he added.

Some companies work with the business world to make sure that their apps and operating systems are secure, DeVries said.

"Other vendors are more worried about, ‘I just want to be open to everybody out there from the teenager all the way up to the grandfather,’" he added.

DeVries said the Defense Department already has taken certain precautions.

"So we published our mobile strategy, and again, with a corporation the size of DOD, we’re going a little bit slow," he said.

"I can’t keep up with how fast this stuff gets on the street," he continued. "But I do know I have to protect the data that resides inside DOD -- No. 1, because people’s lives are at stake, and 2, the defense of the nation is at stake. So I take this seriously."