Category Archives: army cyber command

US Army combines fake hacks, natural disaster simulation to test municipal responses

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Cybersecurity experts from the U.S. military and the private sector have spent recent weeks working with two American cities to test their ability to respond during a simulated cyberattack layered with several simulated physical disruptions. The virtual exercise, which has feigned malware and ransomware attacks against targets in Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga., over the last several weeks, is aimed at testing participants’ ability to defend against digital threats while simultaneously facing an array of emergency scenarios in the physical realm. While grappling with seeming malicious software attacks, participants also have needed to deal with a fictional cargo ship accident, a flood and the failure of 911 systems. The U.S. Army, alongside private sector and municipal partners, is wrapping up the exercise, known as Jack Voltaic 3.0, this week. By assessing municipal and commercial responses to such blended crises, officials aim to understand and mitigate any shortfalls in response that could impact the U.S. military’s ability to deploy out of […]

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Here’s how Army Cyber Command plans to take on information warfare

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Amid burgeoning Russian, Chinese, and Iranian influence operations aimed at manipulating U.S. politics and Americans’ understanding of the coronavirus pandemic, the Army’s top cybersecurity official has released a ten-year plan to reform his command into a more capable information warfare unit. The plan, which Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty outlined this week in Cyber Defense Review, a publication from the Army Cyber Institute, is meant to reorganize Army Cyber Command into a series of units that can work to counter adversaries’ efforts to destabilize the U.S., including by influencing adversaries’ behavior and decision-making through jamming up their signals, or by messaging and running social media information operations to control the narrative, for instance. In some cases, the reformulated Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) will focus on “skillfully communicating (or obscuring), the location, capability, and intent of Army forces,” Fogarty said. The final goal of the ten-year plan is to get ARCYBER to be able to outsmart and outmaneuver adversaries in the information space — in concert with other […]

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Air Force unveils information warfare outfit amid U.S. effort to go on offense in cyberspace

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After months of planning, the U.S. Air Force announced it is creating a new information warfare body, an official step that aims to bolster the military’s digital warfare capabilities. The Air Force announced this week it will create an information warfare command, which will combine the capabilities from the division now responsible for defending crucial networks, Air Forces Cyber, and the 25th Air Force, which oversees intelligence collection, surveillance, and reconnaissance. The new outfit will be known as the 16th Air Force, and led by Maj. Gen. Timothy Haugh, who formerly led the Cyber National Mission Force at Cyber Command, pending his confirmation. The update is one aspect in a series of efforts the Pentagon is undertaking to accelerate offensive operations after years of focusing primarily on defense. It also comes at a time when every other U.S. military service — the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard – also is considering upgrades to […]

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Sen. Warner says hacking, disinformation are the future of war, and urges the U.S. to keep up

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Cyberwarfare and information operations now are the primary ways in which countries assert themselves on the world stage, Sen. Mark Warner said in a speech Tuesday, pointing to a new geopolitical reality in which traditional military strength may be less urgent. The Virginia Democrat portrayed hacking, social media manipulation, and other digital techniques as affordable options for smaller countries that don’t have the financial resources to invest in modern military hardware like tanks and fighter jets. U.S. leaders need to more urgently recognize this transition, he said, and prioritize processes and technology that stifle future attempts from adversaries to interfere in U.S. elections and markets. Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, for years has urged Congress to authorize more funding for cybersecurity. “I worry at times we may be spending too much time [and] resources on 20th century stuff when increasingly conflict in the 21st century will be cyber, will be misinformation, disinformation,” Warner […]

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Army Cyber Command is trying to become an information warfare force

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U.S. Army Cyber Command could soon have a new identity. Commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty said this week he wants his military outfit, dedicated to electronic warfare and information operations, to be renamed as the “Army Information Warfare Command.” The rechristening would better represent a new military mission, he said, and come at a time when Army cyber personnel increasingly deal with troll farms on social media, disrupt ISIS operations, and work to confuse international adversaries’ understanding of U.S. military units’ location. “The intent is to provide a proposal that will change us from Army Cyber Command to Army Information Warfare Command because we believe that is a more accurate descriptor of what I am being asked to do on a daily basis,” Fogarty said at the AFCEA TechNet conference in Augusta, Georgia this week. But this change, which Fogarty said he intends to push internally at the Department of Defense over the next two months, is more than just a new […]

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As the military’s cyber units change guard, a battle over control rages on

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During a time of rapid change for the U.S. military’s top cyberwarfare teams, the current version of the 2019 defense bill is challenging the president’s ability to exert his authority with regards to those units. The White House is protesting a series of measures in the newly Senate-approved 2019 National Defense Authorization Act that seek to legislate how and when President Donald Trump can direct generals to launch cyberattacks. That effort comes while the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Army and Marines welcome new leaders to take charge of their respective cyber forces. Hanging in the balance is how the U.S. operates in cyberspace, which most developed countries now define the fifth domain of warfare, adding to land, air, sea and space. Amendments introduced in the NDAA would require the executive branch to develop and adhere to a cyberwarfare strategy document that draws lines around what types of malicious foreign activity should result in […]

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Army Cyber Command brings in outside help to fight insider threats

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Two companies announced Thursday a $6.5 million contract award to help the United States Army Cyber Command shore up counterintelligence efforts. Applied Insight and DV United will work in tandem to support Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) with its User Activity Monitoring Program (UAM). The two companies have experience handling cyber weapons systems, insider threat analysis and computer network defense for the Pentagon and the wider intelligence community. Greg Walker, president of Applied Insights, told CyberScoop that prior partnerships with the Army, Air Force and FBI were key to fostering trust and securing the ARCYBER contract. Thomas Dalton, chief operating officer of DV United, voiced similar sentiments. “Our deep experience providing cyber and information security mission solutions to the government has assisted in securing federal networks, combating cybercrime and protecting critical infrastructure,” Dalton said in a press release. Over five years, the two companies will monitor user activity, identify potential insider […]

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Army pioneer heads to Army Cyber Command

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Command Sgt. Maj. Sheryl Lyon hopes she’s eased the path for future female military leaders. After almost three years at U.S. Army Europe, Lyon is leaving for an assignment at Army Cyber Command in Virginia. Lyon was the army’s first female senior leader at a service component command. She will be the senior enlisted leader at Army Cyber Command, serving in the role of the command sergeant major. “I hope that I’ve been able to help pave the way, that it’s based on capability for positions instead of gender or ethnicity or anything like that,” Lyon told Stars and Stripes. Lyon, a trained intelligence analyst, believes she can “bring some knowledge and past experience that will help in that realm that will help advance it as well.” Founded in 2010, Army Cyber Command is the cyberwarfare unit tasked with protecting Army computer systems and using hacking tools to support soldiers […]

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U.S. Army and Navy Cyber Mission Force teams declared fully operational a year ahead of schedule

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The U.S. Army and Navy say their Cyber Mission Force teams are fully operational a full year ahead of the deadline imposed by the Pentagon. The Army’s 41 teams and the Navy’s 40 will perform offensive and defensive missions, including combat support missions and defense of critical infrastructure. They report to U.S. Cyber Command, which validated the Army’s teams on Sept. 28 and Navy’s teams on Oct. 6, officials said Thursday. “Reaching [full operational capability] at this point in the development of the Navy’s CMF teams is a testament to the extraordinary hard work invested in manning our teams and training our personnel,” Navy Vice Adm. Michael Gilday, commander of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command, said in a statement. “Although reaching this milestone is a great accomplishment, the true challenge will be sustaining readiness and the prompt ability to ‘answer all bells’ when directed by U.S. Cyber Command.” The Navy’s force means 1,800 […]

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