Meet the Military's Cyber-Security Forces

destinyland writes "How exactly would the military fight a cyber war? In August 2009, the U.S. Air Force activated its new cyberspace combat unit, the 24th Air Force, to 'provide combat-ready forces trained and equipped to conduct sustained cyber operations.' It's commanded by former Minuteman missile and satellite-jamming specialist Major General Richard Webber. (And under his command are two wings, the 688th Information Operations Wing and the 67th Network Warfare Wing, plus a combat communications units.) Meanwhile, to counter the threat of cyber warfare, DARPA is still deploying the National Cyber Range, a test bed of networked computers to test countermeasures against 'cyberwar.' (According to one report, it provides 'a virtual network world — to be populated by mirror computers and inhabited by myriad software sim-people "replicants," and used as a firing range in which to develop the art of cyber warfare.') The Obama administration has even added a military cybersecurity coordinator to the National Security team."

Comments

Same as anyone else

[sakdoctor]

How exactly would the military fight a cyber war?

Post a carefully worded call to arms on 4chan.

Re:Same as anyone else

[Minwee]

4chan is not your personal army

No, it's more like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea. As Hannibal showed the Romans elephants may not consider themselves a part of your army, but once you point them in the right direction they can still get the job done.

American Homeland Defense Firewall?

[h00manist]

So are they now going to propose a Homeland Defense Firewall, to protect and defend american business and citizens against foreign cyber attacks? Or will they be "simply monitoring" the routers coming in and out of the country? I wouldn't be surprised. Of course, no privacy invasions, no espionage will occur over the monitoring channels. Only criminal and terrorist investigation. And even then, only with a warrant. Of course we can be assured of that. Of course you can trust the military to always defend Americans and respect American law and use of decency. Of course. We all agree on that.

Airforce?

[DigiShaman]

*jumps into flame suit *

Or would that now be called the Chairforce?

Re:Cyberwarfare?

[Thaelon]

: Women are generally able to multitask and see the "big picture" easier than men, gays stereotypically gravitate towards creative endeavors (theatre, graphic design, etc.), and the over 30 crowd has exactly the kind of in-depth understanding of the technology and experience necessary to use it that a bunch of twenty-somethings just can't match, no matter how good the training.

Wow, that was not where I thought you were going with that.

And it doesn't seem very rational. All of the in/famous hackers I can think of are at least men, and most are Caucasian. DVD John, Kevin Mitnic, Stroustrup, Paul Lutus, Linus Torvalds, Woz, Stall Man, Wall, Knuth, Shimomura, Johnathan James, and Adrian Lamo... And I don't think any of them are homosexual.. Do you have any counter-examples that would alter this perception?

I think the only thing these people have in common is they aren't just empty suits like the government seems to love to employ, but they are all men.

Re:Cyberwarfare?

[DerekLyons]

Most people in IT aren't anti-authoritarian just to be an ass -- they are because they have a low tolerance for people who try to order them around that they have no respect for or feel are less capable of doing the job than they are. That's readily cured with training -- but that's an up-front cost that I don't think the military is willing to absorb because skimming off the top is cheaper. They haven't had to dig into the labor pool. Maybe they don't need to, I don't know -- but the whole point of basic is to change attitudes, which is all that is. It's an artificial barrier.

Well, your stereotype of basic training, like all your stereotypes is flat out wrong. The point of basic is to instill discipline and modify behavior. The military doesn't give a rat fuck about your attitude so long as it doesn't affect your discipline, behavior, or work. (And you also seem to be ignorant of the fact that the military does hire civilians in special cases, and even assigns them to operational and deployed units.)
 

I made a general statement that holds true for the general case.

Except, like each and every one of your other general statements and stereotypes, you are flat out wrong. I quoted one specific case, but that does not invalidate my other statement.
 

Care to point me in the direction of any women who have managed to make General, in any branch of service? Last I checked, there were none.

Why not just check Google? (I imagine you haven't bothered to check Google in a couple of decades because stereotypes are easy and you're lazy.)
 

And given the number of chiefs and senior offices I knew and know that are over thirty... Well, like the rest of your stereotypes, you're simply wrong.

I was referring to recruitment, and I am not wrong.

Well, other than your general laziness, why didn't you say recruiting? And even so, you're still wrong. The military has long waived the age requirements for narrow and specialized fields where civilian experience is desirable and not available among younger people. If they don't want to put them in uniform for some reason, they hire 'em as DoD civilians.

Re:Cyberwarfare?

[DerekLyons]

For example, playing LARP, or liking the original Star Trek (TNG is apparently okay) is a mark against you for some security clearances.

Having done both those things, *and* having a high security clearance while doing them, *and* working with nuclear weapons - I can comfortably say, like everything else you've posted in this thread, you haven't a fucking clue what you are talking about.