View From the Hill
Written by Rep. Bobby Bright
We cannot count on the same literal and figurative “oceans” in the future because our reaction time has been reduced by the pace of information technology. Though we have yet to see the “digital Pearl Harbor” that some have predicted, cyber-attacks on military and civilian networks have shown increasing sophistication in the past decade. What began as uncoordinated threats from individuals or small groups has morphed into a much more dangerous group of hacker clubs and cyber-aggressors that are tolerated, and in some cases aided, by unfriendly governments.
For example, public reports suggest that North Korea has sponsored a cyberwarfare unit, while hackers in Russia have claimed credit for attacks that have impacted American interests. Recent coordinated attacks disrupted the U.S. State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and even The Washington Post, but bounced off basement servers at the White House.
But what happens when our enemies can make the Ground Based Missile Defense system think it’s a laundromat? Now we are talking about a serious, technological “Pearl Harbor” surprise. These recent attacks remind us that the attackers on that fateful Sunday morning in 1941 were actually picked up by what was then new technology in the form of Army SCR 270 radar, but misclassified as six American B-17s scheduled to arrive at the islands at the same time as the Japanese attackers.
The government has begun to recognize and respond to these threats. Recently, the House Armed Services Committee held a subcommittee hearing on “Cyberspace as a Warfighting Domain.” My colleagues and I heard from a spectrum of military IT experts, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The agency was formed in the immediate aftermath of Sputnik, and to this day its mission remains “to prevent technological surprise.”
At the hearing, Bob Leheny, DARPA’s acting director, stated that “cybersecurity threats will continue to increase in scope and sophistication. Rapid experimentation of new defensive capabilities is needed to stay ahead of cyberthreat advances.” He went on to describe how the National Cyber Range will allow “realistic, quantifiable tests and assessments of cyberscenarios and defensive technologies.”
One of DARPA’s main goals is to develop what Leheny described as “robust, secure, self-forming networks ... with the promise of turning information superiority into combat power ... to dramatically speed up our OODA [observe-orient-decide-act] cycle.”
Leheny sees network-centric operations that can “form, manage, defend and heal themselves ... at enormously high speeds ... which mean that people may no longer be central to establishing, managing or administering them.” While to some this may sound like science fiction, we should remember that the moon landing and the Internet also seemed implausible not too long ago. The concern, of course, is that our enemies are working to meet the same goals.
The good news is that we are moving forward. President Obama is establishing a new cybersecurity office within the White House, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has tasked General Kevin P. Chilton, commander of USSTRATCOM, to deliver a plan to establish a “Cyber Command” by September.
There is much happening on the tactical level, too. At Maxwell Air Force Base, which I am fortunate to represent, the Air University has just held a “Future Operators” symposium to help determine ways to develop crossdomain integration for all warriors, including cyberwarriors. The 754th Electronic Systems Group at Maxwell AFB Gunter Annex is hosting the 22nd annual Air Force Information Technology Conference (AFITC) this month in Montgomery, Ala. AFITC is the premier information technology conference in the Air Force. This year’s theme is particularly prescient: “Air Force Information Technology: the Warfighter’s Edge in Battlespace.”
How does this help us lead turn our cyberadversaries and help pre-empt a digital Pearl Harbor? It was the cooperation, planning and execution of the plans by American military and industry that earned us victory in World War II and put Americans on the moon a dozen years after Sputnik. The nature of cyberwarfare means that conflict dwell times have shortened, the OODA loop has tightened, and that combat in the cyberbattles pace now is measured not by miles or kilometers but by nanoseconds. Recognition of these realities will keep us alert, agile and flexible in cyberdefense, and secure in the future. But we must keep our eye on the target.
As the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu correctly observed, “In conflict, direct confrontation will lead to engagement, and surprise will lead to victory. Those who are skilled in producing surprises will win.” We would be well-served, especially in the cyber-age, to remember those words. ♦
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Rep. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.) is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. The 754th Electronic Systems Group is headquartered at Maxwell AFB, Gunter Annex, in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, which he represents.
