Aaron Bresnahan posted on April 01, 2011 00:14
April 2011 Navy
By Aaron Bresnahan
During the sixties, the popular television show Star Trek used to begin with a quote from its star character, Captain James T. Kirk. He would boldly state, “Space. . . the final frontier;” then, he quickly moved into sharing his vision for the reasoning behind those now famous voyages. Our nation has conquered space flight in the past forty years, and we are now eagerly preparing for a whole new era in space exploration. Reluctantly, though, I will have to disagree with Captain Kirk’s assessment about outer space being the final frontier. I would argue that cyberspace is actually only now being partially tapped and promises to offer access to many unseen and yet-tobe- invented virtual worlds.
Innovations continue to enhance the capabilities and potential for the Web. From a software perspective, we still find ourselves computing locally; but we are just beginning to move beyond the traditional computing by accessing the “cloud.” From a hardware perspective, we have gone from computing on a desk top to utilizing “iPads” and mobile phones with just as much computing power. This ongoing transformation opens up greater connectivity and flexibility, but it also brings new concerns and potential security threats. These new threats force users to be ever vigilant to protect both national security and personal security interests.
Billions of interfaces take place each day. Businesses live and die by the information they share and gather throughout the World Wide Web. It has almost gotten to the point where most people feel more comfortable interacting with each other via a computer screen than they do sitting face-to-face with another human being. There is some sense of security that comes from the anonymous condition one creates when our correspondence is filtered through wires or over the airwaves; we are connected yet separated at the very same time. The problem obviously is that this sense of security can also open up vulnerabilities that can be exploited or manipulated. The cyber explorer of today needs to be aware of the potential threats and take the appropriate measures.
Just over a year ago, the Navy established a numbered fleet dedicated to combating cyber threats. The 10th Fleet was established to implement Admiral Gary Roughead’s vision, “to achieve the integration and innovation necessary for warfighting superiority across the full spectrum of military operations in the maritime, cyberspace and information domains.”* The frontier is vast, and the need to develop safer methods to operate in this “final” frontier is essential.
In an environment of intense budget discussions, there will be some hard choices to make. In recent months, there have been a lot of discussions about finding major reductions by improving efficiencies throughout the Department of Navy. One major discussion point that comes to mind is related to “tail-to-tooth” shifts in funding priorities.
This sounds like a good idea. There should be an appropriate focus on spending that directly improves the effectiveness of our frontline Sailors and Marines. Yet, one factor needs to be carefully and continually evaluated. How can cyber security and the related usage of electronic networks directly impact frontline capabilities? The vast array of threats to infrastructure and operating domains could actually require investments and the fielding of additional safeguards or preventive measures. The complexity of today’s weapon systems and related support technologies is heavily reliant upon networked communications. Therefore, we must be prudent in how we tackle the challenges posed by the complexities of cyber space. Let us go boldly ahead into this new frontier.
*Source: 10th Fleet Web site