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Ask the Air Force Cyber Command General About War in Cyberspace

Posted by Roblimo on from the play-the-ultimate-MMORPG dept.

We ran an article about the new Air Force Cyber Command and its recruiting efforts on February 13, 2008. Now Major General William Lord, who is in charge of this effort, has agreed to answer Slashdot users' questions. If you're thinking about joining up -- or just curious -- this is a golden opportunity to learn how our military is changing its command structure and recruiting efforts to deal with "cyberspace as a warfighting domain." Usual Slashdot interview rules apply.

5 of 315 comments (clear)

  1. As A Military Commander... by Wandering+Wombat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Does it ever wear you down that you have to look at anything and everything in the world as a potential tool or locale for warfare?

    --
    I like to place meaningful quotes in my sig, so people will know that I know what meaningful quotes are.
    1. Re:As A Military Commander... by ScentCone · · Score: 3, Insightful

      looking at things like the internet, which is inherently nonviolent, as a place for warfare

      You probably got moddded down because your choice of language suggests a certain naivete.

      The internet is nothing until someone uses it. Just like a roadside bomb, a watering can, a butterknife. Since it's pointless to talk about it unless you talk about how it's used, then what you're really talking about are the people that use it, and how they use it. To say that it's inherently non-violent is to say that the people who use it are. Which is demonstrably false. And before someone mentions the non-violence of ones and zeros, please remember that much of warfare (including heading it off before someone tries to start one) is communications, awareness, readiness, and the health of your government, industry and other large systems... all of which now depend on the network. War is about controlling, or denying other people the use of the things that allow them to have power or influence over others - and a mammoth, globe-spanning communications system is now forever going to be a central venue for things very much related to violence. It already is.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  2. How do we prevent "mission creep" by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It appears that the military is increasingly involved in areas who's jurisdiction was once considered to be wholly in the civil domain. Use of jargon like "cyberspace" seems only to obfuscate and distract from the core issue. This appears an effort to recruit public opinion and defuse the deeper questions that strike at the heart of a free and civil society. I think that if we had a statement that "The private mails are a warfighting domain" would generate a fair amount of debate on the role of the military as opposed to the police, the function of constitutional protection of liberties, and the question of what actually constitutes a state of war.

    What are the limits on this jurisdiction? Who enforces these limits, and how is the public informed of that status? How are efforts to extend being safeguarded from creating mission creep that threatens all civil discourse in the United States and abroad form targeting, suppression, propaganda and extra-legal surbeillance?

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  3. It is good war is so terrible... by MozeeToby · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wise man once said "It is good that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it". If cyberwarfare ever becomes a reality, how do we respond to the fact that is isn't "terrible"?

    The direct damage from such warfare would be primarily economic or data security related (rather than a cost in human lives) how do you feel we can prevent it from becoming a monthly, yearly, or daily occurance?

  4. flexibility by Eil · · Score: 3, Insightful

    General Lord,

    I served proudly as an active duty member of the United States Air Force for 4 years and then in the Reserves for another 4 years. Although the Air Force is generally regarded as the most "modern" of the U.S. military branches, I still found that the overall structure was too rigid to take me where I wanted to go, so I followed my inner geek and moved fully into the civilian sector.

    You said, 'We have to change the way we think about warriors of the future.' At first, I guessed that you would hire these individuals into government contractor positions, but the Wired article implies otherwise. Many of the brightest security experts, by nature, are highly independent and have a noted distaste for many of the standards that being in the Air Force require, such as basic training, dress and appearance, and physical fitness. How far will the Cyber Command bend the traditional standards in order to persuade the best and brightest in the security field to sign up into a military career?