{"id":17668,"date":"2018-05-23T15:46:18","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T15:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/23\/are-dods-cyber-forces-too-focused-on-the-network\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:09:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:09:46","slug":"are-dods-cyber-forces-too-focused-on-the-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/cyber\/2018\/05\/23\/are-dods-cyber-forces-too-focused-on-the-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Are DoD\u2019s cyber forces too focused on the network?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cyber Command\u2019s primary mission is defense of the Department of Defense Information Networks, but some believe they might need to expand beyond DoD\u2019s networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the aiming point for DoD, \u201cwe have spent years and years focused on infrastructure. Routers, switches, servers and making sure that\u2019s right. We know how to do that, we have policies and regulations on how to do that and it\u2019s done very well,\u201d Col. Paul Craft, director of operations at Joint Force Headquarters-DoDIN, the DoD\u2019s global operational defensive unit, said May 16 at the AFCEA Defensive Cyber Operations symposium in Baltimore, Maryland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to shift because that\u2019s not the only thing the information network is. It\u2019s also our platform IT; it\u2019s also all of our programs of record; it\u2019s also our [industrial control systems] ICS and [supervisory control and data acquisition] SCADA systems; it\u2019s also the cloud; it\u2019s also all of our crossdomains that we have out in the network.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current and former officials acknowledge that given the ubiquity of connectivity and the threat vectors that poses, cyber defense might need to move beyond just \u201cthe network.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe way our cyber mission force is structured, they\u2019re focused on a lot of skills that are related to IP-type networks as far as general understanding of cybersecurity concepts, those sorts of things, but it could be some type of control system that is under threat,\u201d Capt. James Mills, chief of staff Fleet Cyber Command\/10th Fleet, said at the same conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat may be a completely different technology basis; it may have some other expertise that\u2019s required.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some have said that DoD has overlooked defense outside of the DoDIN for several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you look at DoD\u2019s information systems protection over the years \u2026 they\u2019ve tended to focus on protecting what they believe is most important, which is the DoDIN and all the associated or affiliated networks of various security levels,\u201d Marty Edwards, former director of the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team at DHS, told Fifth Domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that these systems have been overlooked and could be of far greater consequence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defending at the local level<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edwards, who is now with the Automation Federation, said military installations are like small cities with a fairly extensive electricity grid to deliver electricity to the various facilities on base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this local installation level, the military relies on local defenders, which are classic IT-type personnel, as well as contractors that run the ICS and SCADA system. DoD\u2019s high-end cyber defenders, called cyber protection teams, serve as cyber SWAT teams and can be mobilized in the event of a cyber incident to aid these local defenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\t