Cyberspace is the New Frontier -- Guest Post by VADM Nancy Brown, Director, J6, Joint Staff
Shipmates,
I expect this post will prompt some comments and may dive into the discussion. Our good friend VADM Nancy Brown, the Joint Staff J-6 (CIO) , offers the following post.
ADM A
Cyberspace is the New Frontier -- Guest Post by VADM Nancy Brown, Director, J6, Joint Staff
One of the significant actions that took place in 2008 was that DoD declared Cyberspace a warfighting domain. Along with this designation came several challenges, not the least of which is how we maintain freedom of access and movement in a domain that is heavily contested. We know we face sophisticated adversaries in this domain and that they have the same tools as we do. So how do we design a security framework that enhances our freedom of movement rather than restricting it, one that promotes agility and one that takes advantage of the potential power that this domain promises. We must transform how we treat our network from an administrative instrument to that of a multi-mission system capable of operating in both friendly and contested environments. We must learn how to operate within cyberspace to achieve our national objectives, while recognizing that others operate in cyberspace as well. We successfully operate in the littorals and on the open ocean today because we have made it a point to purposely operate in these waters and not keep our ships in port. Likewise, we need to operate within cyberspace to be an influential element within the domain. It is time that we learn to leverage the web 2.0 tools to our advantage and not shun them as simply the play tools of the young. The answers are not just technical but are more about changing our culture and building trust.
The Joint Staff is actively using Web 2.0 tools to help us accomplish our mission. When we first started using these tools to make ourselves more effective, we found that there were some disagreements over the security of using the tools versus the benefits to be gained from them; we ran into the Cold War mentality that "nothing could be released, until it had been cleared for release." And we continually are faced with the fear that the internet is a dangerous place and so the risk to our networks is too great for us to move freely within. Nevertheless, we chose to begin using them to fully determine the benefits and observe the vulnerabilities associated with their use. We have found that the largest threats to using these tools effectively is not the loss of sensitive data, or the potential for infection, but the lost benefit and cost associated with not sharing information and collaborating. In a world where Cyber is a warfighting domain, we have learned that the "responsibility to share" information demands that we understand the risk, mitigate it and not allow ourselves to overly restrict our movement or access.
Social networking tools provide capabilities that will revolutionize the way we do business. If we make our networks garrisons with impenetrable security boundaries we are denying ourselves a valuable resource that we should embrace. We live in a new world of blogs, wikis, myspace, facebook, google, etc; if we secure ourselves in garrison we will become irrelevant. This world is about not accepting the way we have always done business but building on the power of Web 2.0 and 3.0 and embracing the limitless capabilities they promise.
Every time we have been faced with a new dimension to our operations, we have learned how to change our tactics to succeed, cyberspace requires the same shift from old think to ensure that we gain and maintain the information advantage that we need to win in this environment. Like any advance in technology, either we will become proficient in its use, or our adversaries will.
In the end, we have decided that the benefit from properly using these tools outweighs the risk.
VADM Nancy Brown
I expect this post will prompt some comments and may dive into the discussion. Our good friend VADM Nancy Brown, the Joint Staff J-6 (CIO) , offers the following post.
ADM A
Cyberspace is the New Frontier -- Guest Post by VADM Nancy Brown, Director, J6, Joint Staff
One of the significant actions that took place in 2008 was that DoD declared Cyberspace a warfighting domain. Along with this designation came several challenges, not the least of which is how we maintain freedom of access and movement in a domain that is heavily contested. We know we face sophisticated adversaries in this domain and that they have the same tools as we do. So how do we design a security framework that enhances our freedom of movement rather than restricting it, one that promotes agility and one that takes advantage of the potential power that this domain promises. We must transform how we treat our network from an administrative instrument to that of a multi-mission system capable of operating in both friendly and contested environments. We must learn how to operate within cyberspace to achieve our national objectives, while recognizing that others operate in cyberspace as well. We successfully operate in the littorals and on the open ocean today because we have made it a point to purposely operate in these waters and not keep our ships in port. Likewise, we need to operate within cyberspace to be an influential element within the domain. It is time that we learn to leverage the web 2.0 tools to our advantage and not shun them as simply the play tools of the young. The answers are not just technical but are more about changing our culture and building trust.
The Joint Staff is actively using Web 2.0 tools to help us accomplish our mission. When we first started using these tools to make ourselves more effective, we found that there were some disagreements over the security of using the tools versus the benefits to be gained from them; we ran into the Cold War mentality that "nothing could be released, until it had been cleared for release." And we continually are faced with the fear that the internet is a dangerous place and so the risk to our networks is too great for us to move freely within. Nevertheless, we chose to begin using them to fully determine the benefits and observe the vulnerabilities associated with their use. We have found that the largest threats to using these tools effectively is not the loss of sensitive data, or the potential for infection, but the lost benefit and cost associated with not sharing information and collaborating. In a world where Cyber is a warfighting domain, we have learned that the "responsibility to share" information demands that we understand the risk, mitigate it and not allow ourselves to overly restrict our movement or access.
Social networking tools provide capabilities that will revolutionize the way we do business. If we make our networks garrisons with impenetrable security boundaries we are denying ourselves a valuable resource that we should embrace. We live in a new world of blogs, wikis, myspace, facebook, google, etc; if we secure ourselves in garrison we will become irrelevant. This world is about not accepting the way we have always done business but building on the power of Web 2.0 and 3.0 and embracing the limitless capabilities they promise.
Every time we have been faced with a new dimension to our operations, we have learned how to change our tactics to succeed, cyberspace requires the same shift from old think to ensure that we gain and maintain the information advantage that we need to win in this environment. Like any advance in technology, either we will become proficient in its use, or our adversaries will.
In the end, we have decided that the benefit from properly using these tools outweighs the risk.
VADM Nancy Brown
Posted at
4:33 PM
6 Comments:
Passwords, passwords, and more passwords. The bain of all things in cyberspace. At last count, I think I have seven different CG passwords, most of which I use once, maybe twice a year. And when that time comes, it is always expired and I have to think of another one "not similar to the last 6 passwords".
I am fortunate in my civilian work to have a BlackBerry, aka CrackBerry, that has a password keeper that is backed up on the server. When will the CG have a similar type of password keeper that is backed up on the network that may be accessed from any workstation in the system? Or maybe within Outlook?
I feel that this can not be ignored much longer. This is complaint number one when it comes to workstations. There has to be a place provided where passwords can be kept, and backed up. It can not be put in the "too hard" file, and just hope it will go away.
Discussion, yes we need some. We have blogs coming at us from all directions now inside and outside Coast Guard. Some are responsive and some are not. iFORCECOM has been pretty unresponsive to comments, iCOMMANDANT more responsive.
The blogs are great tools, but we have already seen witch-hunts for who left what comment on this blog at several units, mine included.
I would like to see the Office of Civil Rights start a blog and come out from behind the blue curtain.
I would also like to be able to sign my name here, but I need a job.
I think it is more of a generational issue as well. While the younger generation is embracing Web 2.0 and Web 3.0. I think that the older generation is having a much harder time in embracing social media as a way to connect to people in the new era of technology. It's especially true on the Auxiliary side where the older generation is having a much harder time to adapting to the new way of doing things and adapting to Social media within the Auxiliary Community. Where as the younger members such as my self who are well verse in the new social media and Web 2.0 and Web 3.0. The older members i believe find it hard to understand that social media is the new way to do things and that if you don't catch on to it, grasp the knowledge and use it within the Auxiliary community and with the general public. They are going to get left behind the curve and it's going to take them a lot longer to catch up.
Great post. It sure looks like the Joint Staff should be our inspiration and motivation as it pertains to Cybersppace and Web 2.0tools. If it is good enough for the Joint Staff, it should be good enough for the USCG.
On a separate note, a discussion in a different forum might be warranted on DOD declaring cyberspace a warfighting domain and its impact on the USCG especially as it pertains to non-state actors such as narco-terrorists utilizing the internet. Just a thought.
Thank you for your leadership on this issue VADM Brown. I gained a lot of insight from you when you addressed our Capstone Class this past summer and often reflected back to what you said as we proceeded forward in implementing policy with regard to Web 2.0 and Coast Guard public affairs. We continue to see that social media and social technology goes beyond public affairs and is and will continue to affect how we work. I have observed many sectors of our society grapple with the application of these technologies whether it be the corporate world, the military, the federal government, the scientific community, the general public... all see that the benefits clearly outweigh the challenges and we must find a way to inculcate these tools into all elements of our work. Thank you again for your leadership and for sharing your insights with the fifth armed service, USCG!! Respectfully, Mary Landry
Hi!
I had a great time going through this post. Well given the fact that the Air Force moves forward with its vision to fly and fight in cyberspace, but some misperceptions warfighting as it appears in this new field entails. Depending on how to define and interpret cyberspace determines what you think warfighting domain will look like.
Instead of the debate about how we should Cyberspace This article uses the definition of cyberspace recently adopted by the Ministry of Defense and Air Force, two common misperceptions about cyber-war. From the National Strategy for Cyberspace Operations Military
Regards
Abhishek
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