Defending the digital battlefield

Army Communicator, Wntr, 2008 by Kristopher Joseph

In 1983, with the Cold War still going strong, a movie called "War Games" depicted an eccentric computer hacker named David Lightman, played by Matthew Broderick. With dogged determination to play the military-generated game, Global Thermo-Nuclear War, David managed to hack into the North American Aerospace Defense Command computer system and almost caused an actual nuclear war with the then Soviet Union.

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"War Games" perfectly represented the tensions and anxieties of the ever-looming nuclear threat during the Cold War nuclear arms race. The Global War on Terrorism has replaced many threats of the Cold War. Many believe that in today's "information age" there are real David Lightmans who pose a cyber threat to military networks that could cause the loss of innocent lives unless something is done about them.

"We are taking a pro-active approach to stop these 'hacktivists' from attacking our systems," said Robert Hembrook, deputy chief of intelligence for United States Army, Europe's 5th Signal Command in Mannheim, Germany. For the first time in the European military theater, a cyber-threat intelligence cell has been created for the specific purpose of detecting, monitoring and combating malicious digital infiltrations on military computer networks, according to Hembrook.

Cyber defense is implemented at the Department of Defense level and was already underway in the halls of the U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany, but a fully developed and funded European theater component-level cyber cell came to full fruition within 5th Signal Command, said Hembrook.

The cell consists of three experienced intelligence and computer experts whose jobs are to observe potentially harmful data passing from the internet into friendly networks, identify patterns of attacks, analyze data, and advise the operators of the network so that they can take preventive action to ensure the safety and security of all systems in the European footprint.

"The fact is that there are people currently trying to break into our systems in an effort to obtain data or plant viruses that put servicemembers and their missions at risk," said one of the cyber cell members. "We simply cannot be vulnerable in this area."

The military, along with most other organizations, relies more and more on the speed and capabilities of computer-based technology to give them an edge on the battlefield. This reliance also allows an extra avenue of attack for the enemy. "This cyber cell marks a change of approach in the intel world," a team member said. "We are already experts on predicting physical attacks from the enemy, but we never had a dedicated staff to predict and prevent virtual attacks at a theater level."

Besides combating threats from the outside, the cell is also involved with helping its military users prevent "digital fratricide" from the inside. For work and morale purposes, DoD policy allows users filtered, monitored access to the World Wide Web on government computers. According to a cell member, this is to obtain business-related information and to visit non-work related sites along as long as casual browsing does not affect getting missions accomplished.

"It's a delicate relationship of balancing functionality and security," said a cell member. "We know that many users can't do their job without computers and the internet, so we look for ways to help protect them."

"Users need to know that internet access is a privilege and not a right," said one cyber cell member.

The cell has taken another proactive step by leaving their offices and actively engaging and informing commanders and military communities of their findings as well as stressing the importance and relevance of the cyber battlefield. Another cell member said that their audience is the leadership in theater because they are the ones who can affect changes in how members of the DoD deal with and fight these cyber threats.

"We have had nothing but positive feedback from commanders," said one cell member. "They are taking our reports seriously and more and more they are seeing that if our data or systems get compromised or abused, threats to our systems can affect not only those sitting behind a desk, but also those on the front lines."

Since the 5th Signal Cyber Cell has shared its results to the intelligence community, other military organizations are asking how they too can have a cyber cell to find their own digital landmines, said the cyber team.

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"This (cyber cell) is unprecedented at this level," said a cell member. "I saw the need for this when I worked at the DoD level. Members of the cell believe that network defensive measures should be implemented at all levels in the military because a computer's role is becoming just as vital as an M-16 rifle in terms of winning today's wars.

"As much as the military trains its own on weapon safety, so we should be training them on computer and network safety," said a cell member. "That is where informing the leadership and giving them briefings becomes so vital."