tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4088979.post5995978725204439871..comments2023-10-16T06:06:25.012-04:00Comments on TaoSecurity Blog: Conti and Easterly on Cyber WarriorsRichard Bejtlichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512184196416665417noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4088979.post-20753086058454236702012-08-22T21:42:39.094-04:002012-08-22T21:42:39.094-04:00Ultimately, I believe the US will have to create a...Ultimately, I believe the US will have to create a new military service. We have the US Army for land forces, the US Navy for waterborne forces, the USAF for air forces, and the Marines as a rapid response force. We will have to eventually create a US Cyber force for the cyber battlespace. It will be highly political and the existing services will resist because huge budgets are involved.rbknnyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17791113008078306408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4088979.post-87473799315243748792010-08-09T11:42:19.369-04:002010-08-09T11:42:19.369-04:00My my ... what a difference a decade makes. I rem...My my ... what a difference a decade makes. I remember several eager and talented CGOs making the case to higher ups that such a corps was necessary - only to be told by senior leadership that "cyber warriors" were gravy, not the meat and potatoes. We left en masse.<br /><br />As an aside, one of my last tours was in a cyber warfare shop. I vehemently state, with a loud and booming voice, "Nothing can be worse than an umotivated troop who neither understands, desires or cares to be part of the Cyber Warfare mission".Ron Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4088979.post-80736045618590796162010-08-07T10:28:39.284-04:002010-08-07T10:28:39.284-04:00A few points to note.
Traditional kinetic weapons...A few points to note.<br /><br />Traditional kinetic weapons soldiers such as infantry have a very limited lifetime due to the natural ageing process and are in many cases getting close to past it in their thirties.<br /><br />This is not true of "grey matter" warriors with specialist skills, they are hardly getting started at thirty and can still be pulling very significant punches well beyond normal civilian retirment age.<br /><br />To offer a real career path the armed forces will have to realise that kicking "grey matter" warriors out simply because they have reached the age limit for "kinetic soldiers" is a waste of very valuble very hard won resources.<br /><br />Also the forces need to realise that a career path for a specialist does not have to include the normal "rank" promotion, in fact this can have a detrimental effect (Majors and above are often just managers not specialist practitioners).<br /><br />Secondly the armed forces need to consider what a "grey matter" warrior is worth, pay can be low for "kinetic soldiers" as there is little in the way of non forces work to draw them out, not so for "grey matter" warriors with specialist skills that have a high premium in the civilian world.<br /><br />Again pay should not be linked to "rank" for specialists.<br /><br />Essentially the forces need a third structure away from the "Officers and Other Ratings" to allow specialists to develop.<br /><br />This is esspecially true as less and less "contact with the enemy" happens these days as more and more kinetic weapons become both "smart" and "stand off". Even traditional picket deployment for defence is so agumented by technology that the "knuckle dragging" "Ground Reconacance Unit Nearly Tactical (GRUNT) is in danger of extinction.<br /><br />We have seen this happen indirectly as some specialists come in as "consultants" or as "part time soldiers" this realy only works in peace time not in actual conflict for a number of reasons (which I don't intend listing for obvious reasons).<br /><br />Unless the armed forces get a grip and address these issues all other incentives etc will be for nothing because the civilian world has moved on atleast a century beyond their current structure.Clive Robinsonhttp://kept.private.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4088979.post-89967082835682299022010-08-05T12:11:36.823-04:002010-08-05T12:11:36.823-04:00Very interesting topic. Full Disclosure I am a re...Very interesting topic. Full Disclosure I am a retired Army Officer and have had the honor of being involved with “cyber operations” since before Cyber Command was ever conceptualized. For sure there are HUGE challenges ahead with Cyber Command, but most are not really “military in nature”, we can and will recruit and train deadly cyber warriors. We are good at that, we will partner with marginally legal hacker groups, no problem. We do things like that in combat all the time (ref. my time in Afghanistan) . Most of the real challenges are going to be political, Congress and the National Command Authority do not like things they do not understand. They will see CyerWarfare as a covert operation and as such will be distrustful of it. I can tell you first hand that there are people in the DoD that understand how to run a CyberWar, they know what to do, where to acquire talent, and how to employ it. I had to laugh at a comment about knuckle draggers Of which I am one, Infantry, Airborne, SOF but also a Network Security Architect, CISSP, DoD trained in CyberWarfae both in IO and IW. There is so much being done in this field that cannot be discussed in this forum. Only a fraction of what is being done is unclassified and in the open. I hope Conti and those like him do end up at CyberCommand. One of the issues that the Big Army has to deal with is that of how to employ Cyber Forces. I suspect and hope that DoD realizes and utilizes them just as they would any other Special Operations Command (SOC). Yes they have special rules, yes they have special pay, yes they have special missions and yes they are special people. In my time with group, I found no “normal” soldiers. They are all a bit different, and thats how CyberComm will have to manage their assets. The model is already built, the DoD just needs to apply it. The downside is that there are a lot of people who do not like the SOC model, they do not trust it and in my mind quite frankly are very jealous of it so they fight against it..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4088979.post-22896057860988209682010-08-05T11:44:04.313-04:002010-08-05T11:44:04.313-04:00Excellent article. It also looks like LTC Conti is...Excellent article. It also looks like LTC Conti is looking for a place in CYBERCOM? :)<br /><br />A lot of the talk amongst senior folks I've seen has centered around policy, which is great and also important, but then I ask where they're going to get the people and they look at me like I've got three heads. Or they simply want to go out and buy a solution.<br /><br />There is still little to no appreciation that operating in this domain is not as simple as handing Cpl Bloggins his 'cyber weapon' (computer workstation?) and telling him to aim over there.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16596700700667042611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4088979.post-2439082829168947032010-08-04T19:55:23.188-04:002010-08-04T19:55:23.188-04:00WOW! I would have never expected this coming from ...WOW! I would have never expected this coming from a Soldier. But none the less I agree, with everything. I believe that our current method of everything is stopping point for so many. <br /><br />I also like the bit from their Slashdot question. (reminds me how much I hate the fact that the guy handing out towels get the same pay as me).Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06875633874527742871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4088979.post-41238023530426925652010-08-04T13:33:37.312-04:002010-08-04T13:33:37.312-04:00Spot-on.Spot-on.Mister Reinerhttp://misterreiner.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com