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Providing a Secure, Yet Robust Network
By Tracy Sharpe, DISA Corporate Communications

Balancing the Department of Defense's need to share information with the need to secure information remains a challenge for DoD and coalition partners. During the Tuesday morning (May 6) panel discussion, experts from DoD and coalition partners discussed the often conflicting requirements to share information while simultaneously safeguarding the information.

The panel of experts from DISA, other agencies, and coalition partners included Air Vice Marshal Robert Allan, the director general of the Information Systems and Services (ISS) of the U.K. Ministry of Defence; Royal Australian Navy RADM Peter Jones, head, Information Capability Management Division (HICMD), Chief Information Officer group; Robert Osborn, deputy director of the distribution portfolio management of the command, control, communications, and computer systems of the U.S. Transportation Command at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.; Mae DeVincentis, director of information operations and chief information officer of the Defense Logistics Agency; Richard Hale, DISA's chief information assurance executive; and John Garing, DISA's chief information officer and director of strategic planning, who moderated the panel.

DeVincentis opened the discussion by illustrating how DoD needs to transform itself. "Our culture is one of traditionalism," she said. "We cling to things we are familiar with. We fear the future."

However, leadership at DoD agencies will need to adjust to a new generation of workers with different expectations. DeVincentis noted that the younger generation of workers is "much more willing to share information, less likely to be a slave to the rules, and more likely to question rules and make us rethink how we do things."

She said, "The challenge is that the present leaders must give more trust to this new generation and to the supplier base and the customer base. Individuals must be freed to do tasks that were previously restricted. Information must also be accepted more readily and need not be overly examined, checked, and viewed as a boundary.

"We must get above that data level and reach an information level," said DeVincentis, adding that changing the approach to information will speed the process of making decisions. Although it is a challenge to share information rapidly and securely, it must be attainable.

"We expect DISA to provide the network that is robust and has great information assurance capabilities," she said.

Robert Osborn approached the topic of keeping a network robust by providing outstanding service-oriented architecture.

"We are transforming our architecture on how we acquire IT (information technology) capabilities and present those to our customers from vertically oriented, systems-centric IT capabilities to horizontally oriented, service-oriented architectures," Osborn said, adding that the DoD's challenge is to get all the partners to engage in the "secure handshake." The worry is that the warfighter has the perception that industry cannot or will not protect information.

Richard Hale remarked on the challenge of information assurance, saying, "It's a balancing act: How do you share as broadly as possible yet still keep a secret occasionally?"

He recognized the needs and benefits of sharing information with allies and industry partners. However, the challenge lies in establishing trust over the Internet. We have to be able to verify and validate with whom we are communicating.

"Cyberspace is anonymous. We've got to drive out inappropriate anonymity everywhere we can," Hale said, adding that we've got to know with whom we are interacting to be able to trust the other person to protect information.

Hale expressed the need for common, cyber identity credentials. He noted that a common public key infrastructure (PKI) was challenging for him and others, but that federating partners by getting data beyond just identity and truly understanding the organization will help get information faster to the warfighters. In turn, that will allow them to make split-second decisions in critical situations.

Hale also remarked on how DoD must decide what is a government function and what is an industry function.

The United Kingdom has made that decision, mandating Air Vice Marshal Robert Allan to outsource approximately half the staff that he requires to run satellite, radio frequency, and network services for the U.K. Ministry of Defence. This decision to outsource was made because it became increasingly more difficult to recruit subject matter experts.

Allan noted that coalition forces share a need to work more closely than ever, given the state of terrorism that exists in the world today. Allan's agency, Information Systems and Services, is the U.K. equivalent to DISA.

"We're trying to come away from this classic platform-centric 'I own the assets.' It's about sharing," he explained. "We are offering services across Defence and the coalition, bringing the power of industry to the table."

In contrast to the belief that only one or two big partners provide services, Allan noted that innovation tends to come from the smaller companies. But with this new ability to share services across the coalition, he has also had to learn how to share the information.

"We're learning what strategic partnership means," he said. "We're realizing that you have to trust each other. You have to trust to get through the hard times."

However, choosing exactly who to share with and trust can be a challenge in the defense industry.

Royal Australian Navy RADM Peter Jones said that, to facilitate trust and sharing, partners must have transparency and similar standards.

Osborn said that the challenge for DoD is to move from a very secure and very suspicious environment to an open and free environment. DoD is in the throes of that transition, which is why industry partnerships are vital to improving communication for defense partners. He implored the audience to bring solutions that will deliver information with speed to the warfighter.

DeVincentis concluded by stressing the need to come to a decision quickly in the face of change.

"The worst feeling in the world is to have one foot on the shore and the other foot in the canoe. You've got to make a decision," said DeVincentis. "Many times we are so cautious and risk-averse that we stay in that position for too long."

She urged the audience to realize that we need to question our beliefs in the role of longstanding traditions.

"The world has changed," DeVincentis said, adding that there is an insatiable appetite for information, and we must adapt.

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