US Cyber Command Wants Greater Attack Mentality

superglaze writes "Lieutenant General Robert J Elder, Jr, a senior figure in US Air Force Cyber Command (AFCYBER), has told ZDNet UK that communication issues are hampering the division's co-ordination. 'IT people set up traditional IT networks with the idea of making them secure to operate and defend,' said Elder. 'The traditional security approach is to put up barriers, like firewalls — it's a defense thing — but everyone in an operations network is also part of the [attack] force. We're trying to move away from clandestine operations. We're looking for real physics — a bigger bang resulting in collateral damage.'"

Comments

Fantastic

[OldFish]

I think they should start out small by going after spammers all over the world. Just think of the positive publicity!

Re:Fantastic

[s_p_oneil]

Not spammers, bot nets (which often generate spam). Taking down malicious and devious programs like the Storm network would help remove an existing threat and would help them brush up on both offensive and defensive tactics.

Just what we need

[Anonymous Coward]

Could the US have any more of an "attack mentality" than it already does?

Good luck with that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry, but the U.S. military just isn't going to get the best hackers around. The biggest problem is that the entire U.S. educational system actively discourages this type of education, in a hostile manner. Big businesses also work with the educational system to discourage creating knowledgeable and skilled people.

Someone posted about a class of theirs on Security issues that got shut down by one big corporation, who threatened not to hire any of their departments' students if they insisted on teaching that class.

So, the bottom line is that our Education system isn't turning out the skilled people that the Military is looking to hire.

This is compounded by the fact that the ones who DO get this knowledge, and have the right attitude, are snapped up by the Bad Guys. Crime is increasingly playing a big part on the internet, and those folks WILL pay good money for the right talent which can deliver results.

I suppose the Military could consider subcontracting out to the Mafia. That's really their only option if they are serious. Otherwise, the best they can get will just be second-rate talent, and more likely third-rate talent.

Good luck attacking, or defending, with that. As a US citizen, I find this frightening, but I've been saying it for years. I'm glad someone is finally waking up to the matter. But I doubt anything serious will ever be done until it's too late.

Re:Good luck with that.

[dave562]

You're right that the military isn't going to get the best hackers. The NSA will. The educational system isn't the real problem. The best hackers have always been those who had a knack for it and lived and breathed the systems that they enjoyed playing with. Because for the best hackers, hacking is playing. It isn't a job, it isn't a career, it's a hobby that they enjoy. The education system could turn out "computer security professionals", but they will only be as effective as their last class. There simply aren't many people out there with the mental facilities required to be really good at hacking. All the guys I knew weren't wired right. They'd only sleep four hours a night, and had insanely accurate memories.. or they were seriously into drugs, everything from speed and coke to LSD and mushrooms. That's why the end up at the NSA. They can be compartmentalized and their idiosyncrocies can be overlooked. Those people would never make it in a military environment with a rigid chain of command.

Truth in Naming

[Original Replica]

An attack mentality from an organization called Cyber Defense Command can only mean bad things are about to happen

The organization is call Cyber Defense Command for a reason, because they know that they should be "defending". If they were honest in their naming then perhaps it would be call Cyber Attack Command. Hmmm, I wonder what other countries would think of that.... It's probably the same reason that our Department of Defense isn't call the Department of Preemptive Strikes. It was called The Department of War until 1947. I know some here will say "the best defense is a good offense", but when you have organizations with "an attack mentality" they will always find someone and some reason to attack. War without End.

collateral damage

[DM9290]

Isn't it some kind of war crime to intentionally TRY to inflict collateral damage?

I thought there was an obligation to try to minimize collateral damage?