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United States Cyber Command

United States Cyber Command is a United States military effort under the umbrella of the U.S. Strategic Command, that was approved for establishment in 2009 by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The organization was established to assume responsibility for operating and defending the Defense Department's information networks. “Given our increasing dependency on cyberspace, this new command will bring together the resources of the department to address vulnerabilities and meet the ever-growing array of cyber threats to our military systems,” said Gates. Initial operational capacity was reached on May 21, 2010. The new command aimed to reach full operational capacity by October 1, 2010. General Keith B. Alexander was chosen as the first commander for the new organization. The new post is headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland.

Background

According to William J. Lynn, Deputy Secretary of Defense, there are more than 100 intelligence agencies and military organizations actively trying to infiltrate US military intelligence at any given time. The appeal of cyber warfare, and the reason for its rise in popularity is based on the low cost associated with executing cyber attacks. There are none of the barriers to entry into the cyber warfare sector like there are in other areas of waging war like the air, and maritime sectors. US Cyber Command was created in an effort to combat these constant threats. Cyber Command is not intended to rely on passive efforts like firewalls in order to keep the military networks secure. Rather, the command is charged with utilizing active monitoring and counter strategies against would be hackers. President Obama has made it a point to emphasize the importance of cyber security also. He established October as Cyber Defense awareness month with a presidential proclimation that stated:

America's growing dependence on information technology has given rise to the need for greater protection of digital networks and infrastructures. To highlight the need for increased cybersecurity, and the work of the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, and private companies, nonprofits and academia, President Barack Obama proclaimed October as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Mission

According the U.S. Strategic Command the mission of the new Cyber Command is as follows:

USCYBERCOM plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes, and conducts activities to: direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full-spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries.

Organization

The new command is subordinate to the U.S. Strategic Command and has four Service Elements which are:

• Army Forces Cyber Command (ARCYBR)
• 24th USAF
• Fleet Cyber Command
• Marine Forces Cyber Command

Army Forces Cyber Command

The Army branch of Cyber Command has its headquarters in the National Capital Region, and utilizes a total force of 21,000 that is located around the globe. The force, commanded by Major General Rhett Hernandez, utilizes both soldiers and civilians in the exeuction of its duties. The mission of ARCYBR is "to plan, coordinate, integrate, synchronize, direct, and conduct network operations and defense of all Army networks." The force will also be used to execute cyberspace operations in support of US and Allied freedom in cyberspace, as well as to deter the cyberspace freedom of enemies.

24th USAF

The 24th US Air Force is comprised of three wings located at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. The Air Force branch of Cyber Command is composed of over 5,400 men and women. The group consists of 3,339 military personnel, 2,975 civilians, and 1,364 contractors. The group is broken into three wings:

• 67th Network Warfare Wing
• 688th Information Operations Wing
• 689th Combat Communications Wing

The 67th and 668th groups are both headquartered at Lackland, while the 689th is located at Robins. The Mission of the 24th Airforce is "The mission of the 24th Air Force is to provide combatant commanders with trained and ready cyber forces to plan and conduct cyberspace operations, and to extend, maintain and defend the Air Force portion of the global information grid."

Fleet Cyber Command

The mission of Fleet Cyber Command is as follows:

The mission of Fleet Cyber Command is to direct Navy cyberspace operations globally to deter and defeat aggression and to ensure freedom of action to achieve military objectives in and through cyberspace; to organize and direct Navy cryptologic operations worldwide and support information operations and space planning and operations, as directed; to direct, operate, maintain, secure and defend the Navy’s portion of the Global Information Grid; to deliver integrated cyber, information operations cryptologic and space capabilities; and to deliver global Navy cyber network common cyber operational requirements.

Fleet Cyber Command is headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland. The Command is led by Vice Admiral Barry McCullough. Fleet Cyber Command incorporates the Tenth Fleet which acts as the Number Fleet for Fleet Cyber Command. Tenth Fleet will assume operational control of assigned naval forces in the advancement of Fleet Cyber's mission.

Marine Forces Cyber Command

Marine Corps Forces, Cyber Command is the Marine Corps branch of the US Cyber Command. The force is commanded by Lieutenant General George Flynn. The Command was officially established on January 21, 2010 during a ceremony at Fot Meade in Maryland.

Concerns and Criticisms

Privacy Concerns

Some concern has arisen that Cyber Command will dominate the protection not only of the nation's military networks, but also of civilian networks. Some of this concern has come from the fact that Defense Secretary Gates did not announce the new group in a speech, but rather in a memo. James Lewis, a cybersecurity analyst for Center for Strategic and International Studies, has said that "People are leery about NSA having any sort of larger role and people are leery about this question of the militarization of the Internet."

Force Readiness

In addition to these concerns some military personnel have questioned the idea that the current branches of the military are suited to cyber warfare. Some have suggested a new cyber warfare branch. Lt. Col. Gregory Conti and Col. John Surdu argue that "the culture of today's military services are fundamentally incompatible with the culture required to conduct cyber warfare."