Businessweek says the US is reorganizing its cyberspace command, moving control away from the Air Force:
The Pentagon this week delayed and may kill the Air Force’s nascent Cyberspace Command, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. This comes as Russia used a major computer network attack to begin its assault on Georgia.
Sounds like a control struggle is happening within the armed forces. Dissent among American leadership is the next block of the story:
“The Russians just shot down the government command nets so they could cover their incursion,” said Wynne. “This was really one of the first aspects of a coordinated military action that had cyber as a lead force, instead of sending in air planes. We need to figure out a way not only see the attack coming but to block it, and in blocking it chase it home.”
“I think this is a very poor time to send a signal that the United States is not interested in focusing on warfighting in the cyber domain,” Wynne added.
Wynne was fired by Defense Secretary Robert Gates earlier this year after the Air Force’s mishandling of nuclear weapons. Wynne, however, told reporters he was fired over differences with Gates on the need for additional F-22 fighter jets, among other matters.
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People from the Air Force that I have spoken with have said they disagree with the current Administration’s policies, and some have even suggested that Bush himself is unable to lead or make decisions. They still discuss how he reacted on 9/11. No doubt this grudge makes them a target for reorganization.
The Air Force considers cyberspace a “domain” for which the service should train and equip forces to defend, as it does airspace. There are about 3 million attempted penetrations of Defense Department networks every day, according to the Air Force.
A senior military commander told the AP, however, that the mission to defend U.S. military networks is better vested in U.S. Strategic Command, which has the military responsibility for cyberspace across all services and commands.
The bottom line on this issue is that the problem of DDoS attacks is real and needs to be addressed immediately. Companies like Arbor seem to get it and have been managing the situation for many years already. The risks are known; this stuff is not rocket science, so hopefully the Pentagon is actually getting things organized and moving ahead rather than playing politics and favors to corporations, or lobbyists, etc..