Pentagon Prepares For Cyberspace "War"
Wednesday May 14, 2008
According to Wired,the Air Force is investing millions of dollars to enable it to gain "access" and "full control" over any kind of computer in the world ... and wishes to do so in a stealth manner.
This may be "news" to you (it was to me), but a quick Google search suggests I've simply been in the dark. Last year, Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne told airmen that America has enemies that "attempt to access American industrial servers that contain sensitive data, exploit electromagnetic energy to try and jam or misdirect our precision weapons and use radio transmitters to detonate improvised explosive devices, killing Americans, Coalition allies and innocent civilians." (Protecting the first item in that list should not be the responsibility of the military.) Also last year, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley " redefined the service’s mission as being 'to fly and fight in air, space and cyberspace.'"
A reminder that the Internet is a legacy of DARPA funding and that our credit-card defense spending may be re-paid by our great-grandkids. Moreover, I don't understand why a cyberwarfare defense effort is being led by the Air Force. Anyone?
The Air Force recently put together a "Cyberspace Command," with a charter to rule networks the way its fighter jets rule the skies. The Department of Homeland Security, Darpa, and other agencies are teaming up for a five-year, $30 billion "national cybersecurity iniative." ... "You used to need an army to wage a war," a recent Air Force commercial notes. "Now, all you need is an Internet connection."
This may be "news" to you (it was to me), but a quick Google search suggests I've simply been in the dark. Last year, Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne told airmen that America has enemies that "attempt to access American industrial servers that contain sensitive data, exploit electromagnetic energy to try and jam or misdirect our precision weapons and use radio transmitters to detonate improvised explosive devices, killing Americans, Coalition allies and innocent civilians." (Protecting the first item in that list should not be the responsibility of the military.) Also last year, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley " redefined the service’s mission as being 'to fly and fight in air, space and cyberspace.'"
A reminder that the Internet is a legacy of DARPA funding and that our credit-card defense spending may be re-paid by our great-grandkids. Moreover, I don't understand why a cyberwarfare defense effort is being led by the Air Force. Anyone?
Comments
Well, I am sure the Air Force is not the only one. The CIA, the Navy and NSA have both used the cyberspace for many years. But it is a tradition of the USA intelligence community to multiply the missions of its many agencies. Funnily enough for a “democracy”, the USA is, I believe, the country which has the most various spying organisations in the world. Ironical for a country which had none before 1939… And cyberspace has been these agencies target for long. The problem is that, despite the institution of coordination at the highest level (Joint Intelligence Committee, etc.), agencies are competing with each other in each field. As you noticed before, all branches of the military want more funding. And as you mentioned, they get these funds without any control or follow up, because the American Senate and Chamber are incompetent and weak. So the military intelligence agencies decide that they need cyberspace warfare and they will get it… despite the fact that it should be the domain of the NSA and/or the CIA (or FBI for internal warfare).