Noah Shachtman wrote an interesting article for Wired on the U.S. military’s new openness regarding offensive cyber operations. Noting the Pentagon’s previous reticence on offensive cyber operations, Shachtman explained how “America’s armed forces [now] can’t stop talking about it.” Shactman specifically pointed to Gen. Mill’s recent comments on U.S. military offensive cyber operations, DARPA’s Plan X, and a USAF RFP looking for the “ability to control cyberspace effects at specified times and places.”
Similarly, Brian Donohue wrote for threatpost (a Kasperky Lab Security News Service) about that above mentioned RFP. The RFP came from the Air Force’s Life Cycle Management Center, which falls under Air Force Materiel Command. The RFP is notable in that it very comprehensively spells out the Air Force’s desire for new cyber weapons in a very open fashion. We’re not necessarily keeping this quiet anymore. Donohue wrote that “the Air Force’s frank call for arms is emblematic of an increasingly stark reality: the construction and eventual deployment of military-grade malware . . . is only going to become more main stream . . . urging some to call for a more open dialogue on the use of cyberweapons.”
Is this new openness a good thing?
***
A bit of humorous news from NextGov’s Aliya Sternstein: apparently criminals are posing as officials from CyberComm to defraud people. A popup appears on your screen and declares that CyberComm (or several other federal agencies) has determined you are involved in criminal activity, and you must pay a fine.
Leave a Reply