Cyberwarfare in the United States

As a major developed economy, the United States is highly dependent on the Internet and therefore greatly exposed to cyberwarfare attacks, yet at the same time has very significant capabilities in both defense and power projection thanks to its advanced technology and large military budget.

The United States Department of Defense recognises the use of computers and the Internet to conduct warfare in cyberspace as a threat to national security,[1] but also as a platform for attack.[2]

The United States Cyber Command centralizes command of cyberspace operations, organizes existing cyber resources and synchronizes defense of U.S. military networks. It is an armed forces sub-unified command subordinate to United States Strategic Command.

The Five Pillars

The five pillars is the framework for the United States military strategy for cyberwarfare.[3] The first pillar is to recognize that the new domain for warfare is cyberspace similar to the other elements in the battlespace. The second pillar is proactive defenses as opposed to passive defense. Two examples of passive defense are computer hygiene and firewalls. The balance of the attacks require active defense using sensors to provide a rapid response to detect and stop a cyber attack on a computer network. This would provide military tactics to backtrace, hunt down and attack an enemy intruder. The third pillar is critical infrastructure protection (CIP) to ensure the protection of critical infrastructure. The fourth pillar is the use of collective defense, which would provide the ability of early detection and to incorporate them into the cyberwarfare defence structure. The fifth pillar is maintain and enhance the advantage of technological change. This would include improved computer literacy and increasing artificial intelligence capabilities.

In April 2015, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) published its latest Cyber Strategy[4] building upon the Five Pillars published in July 2011.[5] The DoD Cyber strategy focuses on building capabilities to protect, secure, and defend its own DoD networks, systems and information; defend the nation against cyber attacks; and support contingency plans. This includes being prepared to operate and continue to carry out missions in environments impacted by cyber attacks. DoD set five strategic goals:[4]

1. Build and maintain ready forces and capabilities to conduct cyberspace operations;

2. Defend the DoD information network, secure DoD data, and mitigate risks to DoD missions;

3. Be prepared to defend the U.S. homeland and U.S. vital interests from disruptive or destructive cyberattacks of significant consequence;

4. Build and maintain viable cyber options and plan to use those options to control conflict escalation and to shape the conflict environment at all stages;

5. Build and maintain robust international alliances and partnerships to deter shared threats and increase international security and stability.

US Department of Defense Cyber Strategy, US DoD, April 2015.

Cyberattack as an act of war

In 2011, The White House published an "International Strategy for Cyberspace" that reserved the right to use military force in response to a cyberattack:[6][7]

When warranted, the United States will respond to hostile acts in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country. We reserve the right to use all necessary means — diplomatic, informational, military, and economic — as appropriate and consistent with applicable international law, in order to defend our Nation, our allies, our partners, and our interests. In so doing, we will exhaust all options before military force whenever we can; will carefully weigh the costs and risks of action against the costs of inaction; and will act in a way that reflects our values and strengthens our legitimacy, seeking broad international support whenever possible.

International Strategy for Cyberspace, The White House, 2011

In 2013, the Defense Science Board, an independent advisory committee to the U.S. Secretary of Defense, went further, stating that "The cyber threat is serious, with potential consequences similar in some ways to the nuclear threat of the Cold War," and recommending, in response to the "most extreme case" (described as a "catastrophic full spectrum cyber attack"), that "Nuclear weapons would remain the ultimate response and anchor the deterrence ladder."[8]

Attacks on other nations

Iran

In June 2010, Iran was the victim of a cyber attack when its nuclear facility in Natanz was infiltrated by the cyber-worm ‘Stuxnet’, said to be the most advanced piece of malware ever discovered and significantly increases the profile of cyberwarfare.[9][10] It destroyed perhaps over 1000 nuclear centrifuges and, according to a Business Insider article, "[set] Tehran's atomic programme back by at least two years."[11]

Despite a lack of official confirmation, Gary Samore, White House Coordinator for Arms Control and Weapons of Mass Destruction, made a public statement, in which he said, "we're glad they [the Iranians] are having trouble with their centrifuge machine and that we – the US and its allies – are doing everything we can to make sure that we complicate matters for them", offering "winking acknowledgement" of US involvement in Stuxnet.[12]

China

In 2013, Edward Snowden, a former systems administrator for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a counterintelligence trainer at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), revealed that the United States government had hacked into Chinese mobile phone companies to collect text messages and had spied on Tsinghua University, one of China’s biggest research institutions, as well as home to one of China’s six major backbone networks, the China Education and Research Network (CERNET), from where internet data from millions of Chinese citizens could be mined. He said U.S. spy agencies has been watching China and Hong Kong for years.[13]

According to classified documents provided by Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency (NSA) has also infiltrated the servers in the headquarters of Huawei, China's largest telecommunications company and the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world. The plan is to exploit Huawei’s technology so that when the company sold equipment to other countries — including both allies and nations that avoid buying American products — the NSA could roam through their computer and telephone networks to conduct surveillance and, if ordered by the president, offensive cyberoperations.[14]

Other

Cyber threat information sharing

The Pentagon has had an information sharing arrangement, the Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity and Information Assurance (DIBCIA) program, in place with some private defense contractors since 2007[21] to which access was widened in 2012.[22]

A number of other information sharing initiatives such as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) and Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) have been proposed, but failed for various reasons including over fears that they have too few limits, and could be used to spy on the general public.

United States Cyber Command

The United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is a United States armed forces sub-unified command subordinate to United States Strategic Command. USCYBERCOM plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes and conducts activities to: defend Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to conduct "full spectrum military cyberspace operations" to ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to adversaries.[23]

Army

The Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) is an Army component command for the U.S. Cyber Command.[24] ARCYBER has the following components:

Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command is a functional formation of the United States Marine Corps to protect infrastructure from cyberwarfare.[28]

Air Force

The Twenty-Fourth Air Force (24 AF) will be the United States Air Force component of United States Cyber Command (USCYBER).[29] It has the following components:

Navy

The Navy Cyber Forces (CYBERFOR) is the type commander for the U.S. Navy's global cyber workforce. The headquarters is located at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story. CYBERFOR provides forces and equipment in cryptology/signals intelligence, cyber, electronic warfare, information operations, intelligence, networks, and space. In September 2013, the United States Naval Academy will offer undergraduate students the opportunity to major in Cyber Operations.[30]

Fleet Cyber Command is an operating force of the United States Navy responsible for the Navy's cyber warfare programs.[31] Tenth Fleet is a force provider for Fleet Cyber Command.[32] The fleet components are:

Timeline

Cyberwar defense team

See also

Further reading

References

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  2. "American Forces Press Service: Lynn Explains the U.S Cybersecurity Strategy". Defense.gov.
  3. "Official: NATO Should Build A 'Cyber Shield'". Red Orbit. 16 September 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 US Department of Defense Cyber Strategy. http://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/features/2015/0415_cyber-strategy/Final_2015_DoD_CYBER_STRATEGY_for_web.pdf: US Department of Defense. 2015. pp. 2–8.
  5. 1 2 Department of Defense Strategy for Operating In Cyberspace. http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SMA/ispab/documents/DOD-Strategy-for-Operating-in-Cyberspace.pdf: US DoD. 2011.
  6. "International Strategy for Cyberspace" (PDF). The White House. 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
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