BEHIND THE LINES

Signal, Aug 2007 by Ackerman, Robert K

When it began publication more than six decades ago, SIGNAL Magazine was covering defense communications and electronics from an army perspective- a reflection of its origins in the Signal Corps and the Army Signal Association. This month, SIGNAL goes back to its roots and steps out of the modern joint world to look at Army technologies in its August special report.

The first article in this report goes right to the core of SIGNAL'S origins- communications and information systems. The piece on page 16 is based on an interview with Vernon M. Bettencourt Jr., the deputy chief information officer (CIO)/G-6 of the U.S. Army. Bettencourt, who gave SIGNAL the interview as acting Army CIO/G-6, explains how Army information systems have reached a totally new phase of activity.

Just how the Army is achieving its vital network centricity is the topic of the next article. Senior Editor Maryann Lawlor reports on how the service has changed direction to accommodate both new capabilities and new missions in the Global War on Terrorism. This includes clearing the airwaves of stovepipes, as she describes beginning on page 23.

Bringing full situational awareness capabilities down to the individual warfighter remains a goal that the Army continues to close in on. One step in that direction is a capability that the Army has extracted from its Land Warrior program. News Editor Rita Boland writes on page 29 about the newest version of the Commander's Digital Assistant that delivers Blue Force Tracking into the hands of a dismounted soldier.

Moving out of Army technologies, the U.S. Air Force is girding for battle in cyberspace. Business Editor Henry S. Kenyon reports on the creation of the Air Force Cyberspace Command, or AFCYBER, as part of the 8th Air Force. The new command will seek to establish dominance over all things networked, Kenyon reports on page 35.

In this networked age, cyberspace security is everyone's responsibility. The articles that constitute this month's SIGNAL theme of information security begin with a piece by Lawlor that goes right to the heart of the matter. Her article on page 39 features an interview with Gregory Garcia, the assistant secretary for cybersecurity and telecommunications in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She reports that Garcia's office has increased its efforts to bring the private sector into the battle to secure the nation's critical infostructure.

Boland examines how the government is faring in its security efforts. Her article on page 45 looks at the latest review of the Federal Information Security Management Act, or FISMA. She reports that this review grades the graders in that it describes how government chief information security officers believe that FISMA is affecting their respective organizations.

Kenyon returns with an article on the U.S. Defense Department's and the National Security Agency's efforts to upgrade military cryptographic capabilities. His piece on page 51 examines progress made in the Cryptographic Modernization Program- and what lies ahead.

Continuing the security theme, Boland describes the Defense Department's efforts to go beyond the Common Access Card to a new identification system that would provide network authentication among government, military and private industry individuals. The page 57 article reveals how the Defense Cross-Credentialing Identification System, or DCCIS, employs biometrics to provide greater security across a broader range of users.

Hiding in plain sight is the approach taken by a new software application that encases data in an encrypted intelligent shell, as Kenyon reports on page 63. This approach could be employed by users ranging from small online communities to intelligence sources.

But, when you get down to it, security is all about the architecture- so says the former deputy assistant secretary of defense for security and information operations. In this month's viewpoint on page 69, contributing writer Christopher K. Mellon charges that the U.S. information architecture is not secure and never will be. U.S. federal information technology officials must realize that only new architecture models can help secure the vital infosphere from catastrophic attack.