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The enemy is attacking–again.
The relentless attack cascades across the base’s sturdy defenses every few seconds. Staff Sgt. Carlos Miranda responds, his fingers dancing across his computer keyboard.
The relentless onslaught is business as usual for the sergeant, a 33rd Network Warfare Squadron network defense crewmember at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. A member of the Air Force’s Network Security Division, he watches and responds to a barrage of probes, malicious code and attempted breaches of Air Force networks.
The sergeant isn’t fighting a battle in some far-off dusty desert. He fights his battles from an operations center, where the smell of coffee fills the air. No matter. He and his crewmembers must ensure critical data and networks are available to support Air Force operations worldwide.
That’s a tall order. But the sergeant and the other members of his highly trained crew, a mix of Airmen and Air Force civilians and contractors, know their job well.
Airmen fighting the war on terrorism around the globe may not realize it, but they depend on the Lackland crew to complete their missions.
It’s a never-ending battle. One the Air Force is determined to win.
"We estimate our network operations people see an alert of some kind every eight seconds," said Lt. Gen. Robert J. Elder Jr., commander of 8th Air Force and the joint functional component commander for global strike and integration for U.S. Strategic Command.
"We thwart most attacks through a number of measures we have implemented on Air Force systems," the general said. "When one gets through, we work with partners in intelligence and law enforcement to do the forensics analysis that tells us where it came from, and how to stop the next one from affecting our ability to operate effectively across the globe."
The team ensures critical data and networks are available to support all Air Force operations. That could be a tanker airlift control element in Europe, a medical unit in Southwest Asia, a forward supply area in South America or intelligence analysts awaiting imagery downloads.
All these missions rely on the connectivity that enables them to pass mission critical data–tanker tracks and schedules over the Pacific, patient data, critical spares shipment information and even air tasking orders.
This data and the networks and systems it resides on are under constant, deliberate attack.
Dominating a domain
The cyberspace war affects every part of the Air Force mission. But while Air Force cyber experts understand the importance of the cyberspace battlefront, most Airmen still wonder, "What exactly is cyberspace?"
In simplest terms, it is any electronic signal or anything that sends, receives or reflects those signals. For the warfighter, it is a new medium for military operations. And in an era where almost every Airman has access to, or can transmit, data, cyber security is paramount.
"It is important for every Airman to recognize the Air Force approach to cyberspace is that it is a warfighting domain, just like air and space," General Elder said. "We intend to dominate that domain, and use it to provide sovereign options for the nation and battlefield effects for joint force commanders.
Cyberspace is not just a computer on someone’s desktop, or a "virtual reality" game. It is another way the Air Force intends to fly and fight, he said.
With cyberspace integrated with the Air Force’s already robust air and space operations, "it’s a triple threat for the bad guys," the general said.
"Cyberspace operations are not and will not be a secondary competency for the Air Force," he said. "Cyber ops are tightly integrated with every aspect of modern military operations."
That is why the cyber command is building a strong foundation for future cyber warriors. The focus is on training, crew certifications and a diverse set of skills that span and transcend current specialties in communications, intelligence, operations and command and control.
The cyber command mission is to provide global effects in cyberspace, General Elder said. And the first thing the Air Force must do is establish the cyber domain and operate it.
"I tell my pilot friends that if they want to go have some sort of air fight, they don’t have to worry about if there will be air," the general said. "If someone wants to conduct operations in cyberspace–whether we’re fighting in cyberspace itself, or using it in support of the air fight–the first thing we have to do is create the domain that we are going to fight in."
Delivering and sustaining cyberspace is a huge job. It needs the constant support of hundreds of Airmen, civilians and contractors to ensure AF networks are available, reliable and secure.
"Right now we’re pretty much limited to the NIPR (non-classified Internet protocol router) and SIPR (secret Internet protocol router) nets," General Elder said. "But we envision our role expanding to incorporate some airborne and space networks in the future as we further integrate Air Force systems and capabilities."
Information provided by: Findarticles.com
