Air Force to Get "Cyber Sidearms"

mlbtaz writes to mention that techs working on Air Force networks will soon be getting "cyber sidearms" to help alert them to potential security breaches. "The tool could be a small piece of software installed on Air Force computers or it could be a simple mechanism for taking a screenshot and relaying it to security experts, said Maj. Gen. William Lord, who will soon take command of the Air Force's provisional Cyber Command. In an interview this week, Lord said service officials have not made a final decision about which technology they will use for the program. "

Comments

Sounds like just another Friday night.

[Tackhead]

> Elder said service leaders will stage fake threats to practice using the cyber sidearm. Service members will receive points when they use the tool appropriately...

Welcome to Slashdot, Lt. General! Around here we call that "Friday night."

(Aight, he puts on his robe and cyber sidearm...)

Re:Sounds like just another Friday night.

[History's Coming To]

Sounds more akin to the "report post" button on a forum.

Unless that is your idea of a good Friday night? ;)

Y'know, I don't think we get it.

[PhxBlue]

I don't think the Pentagon gets it when it comes to information warfare. I really don't. Maybe it's just me, though, because every time I hear brass use the word "cyber," especially as a verb, the first thing that comes to my mind is cybersex.

Also, this excerpt amuses me:

Service members will receive points when they use the tool appropriately and lose points when they fail to act on a simulated threat, he said during a panel discussion in Washington last week sponsored by the Air Force Association.

Maybe the lieutenants need it, but I hope they spare the rest of the servicemembers from this. I mean, talk about patronizing. If Airman Snuffy earns 20 points, does he get a gold star or a day off?

Let me get this straight...

[njfuzzy]

We are going to give you a tool. We are going to call it a "cyber sidearm". However, we don't know what it will be, or what it's purpose is, yet.

Great program.

Re:Let me get this straight...

[sco08y]

We are going to give you a tool. We are going to call it a "cyber sidearm". However, we don't know what it will be, or what it's purpose is, yet.

The Good Idea Fairy strikes again!

Re:Let me get this straight...

[Black Art]

We are going to give you a tool.

I think they have plenty of tools.

"cyber sidearms" is a euphamism

[User 956]

mlbtaz writes to mention that techs working on Air Force networks will soon be getting "cyber sidearms"

Don't tase me bro!

Death to "cyber"

[Nimey]

It's fucking overused and is used by clueless people (suits, feds). Just say "EMP" or whatever the hell principle this thing operates on, or name it after the inventor.

"Sidearm"? Silly!

[DragonWriter]

The tool could be a small piece of software installed on Air Force computers or it could be a simple mechanism for taking a screenshot and relaying it to security experts

Uh. Okay. So they have a print screen key that happens to automatically send the screen image to a security review team somewhere rather than saving it locally. Sure, maybe its useful somehow, but calling it a "cyber sidearm" is ludicrous. I mean, I'm sure lots of military sites uses cameras that send images to security personnel, are we going to call them "photographic sidearms" now?

Not so far fetched

[RingDev]

Actually, promotions in the military are points based. You get points for each month you are active, points for high physical fitness scores, points for high marksmanship on the range, points for going to military education (Corporals course, aggressor school, etc...), points for taking specific billets (MSG duty, recruiting, Drill Instructor, etc...) points for civilian education, and so on. So, properly responding with this tool could quite actually have an effect on a person's score and thus the time frame of their promotion.

-Rick

Re:Not so far fetched

[PhxBlue]

Not unless they're integrating this into the WAPS system, it won't. In the Air Force, the only points you get are for enlisted performance reports, specialty knowledge tests and promotion fitness examinations. Physical fitness affects the EPR score, but it's strictly a pass-fail ... if you fail, that's going to reflect on your EPR.

Re:Not so far fetched

[B3ryllium]

Hrm, I never realized that the military was so similar to an RPG ... ;-)

More Air Force Cyberspeak

[Anonymous Coward]

shift-prt scr = Cyber Sidearm
caps lock = Cyber Bullhorn
ctrl-H = Cyber Whiteout
ctrl-G = Cyber Air Raid Siren
num lock = Cyber Bionic Numerical Entry Mode
page down = Cyber Teleporter

Looks just like a Taurus 9mm

[wsanders]

Except when you pull the trigger a flag pops out of the barrel that says, "PWNED!"

Real World Threats vs. AirForce TinFoil

[billstewart]

The wider development world has *lots* of tools in this space

• Virus checkers
• Personal Firewalls
• Anti-Phishing DNS servers
• Remote Sysadmin Printscreen Tools
• Microsoft Patch Tuesday
• Intrusion-Detection / Intrusion-Prevention servers
• etc.

Putting a cute name on it is a way to get funding and get the users to use the tools they're given and of course

get reputation points for your department. You'll find that the Real World has difficulty with those problems just like the Air Force, and if you don't have an annoying central IT administration group keeping an iron grip on everybody's entire software configuration, it's really hard to make sure everything reasonable gets done.

Re:SHIFT PrtSc?

[fyrewulff]

At least in Windows, only captures the window in focus and not the entire screen.