The Department of Defense took an intriguing step in the field of cyber warfare. Earlier in the week, Defense Secretary Ash Carter made some overtures to transforming U.S. CYBERCOM from a sub-unified role under U.S. Strategic Command to a full combatant command (Tucker, 2016). This perhaps signifies a dramatic switch in how America’s political and military leaders have begun viewing the cyberspace domain. Carter said this evolving outlook signifies CYBERCOM’s emerging role in the fight against ISIS. Given the terrorist organizations sophisticated use of social media and encrypted communication networks, moving CYBERCOM to the digital front lines seems to be the next logical step.
Recognizing this progression also expands CYBERCOM’s larger role in the defense of the United States against a host of other digital enemies. From nation states to organized criminal syndicates, the US has long endured an onslaught of cyberattacks against its critical infrastructure. To illustrate the point, this week the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released details on an attack against the American power grid back in January. The attack resulted in the exfiltration of sensitive information from American energy companies along with the planting of Cryptolocker ransomware on networks belonging to three different utility companies (Pagliery, 2016). This piece of malware has the potential to lock digital files perhaps resulting in the disabling of portions of the electrical grid. Although DHS described the incident as “espionage” rather than a “cyberattack”, the organization also reported that “aggressive foreign government hackers broke into American companies 17 times between October 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014.”
Whether the intent of these intrusions was espionage, theft, or even curiosity, the most important part of this story is that our infrastructure remains woefully at risk. In light of this newest revelation from DHS it only makes sense to develop CYBERCOM’s role into a more offensive asset.
References
Pagliery, J. (2016). Government reveals details about energy grid hacks. WCVB.com. Retrieved from http://www.wcvb.com/money/government-reveals-details-about-energy-grid-hacks/38877110
Tucker, P. (2016). Carter may elevate CYBERCOM to full combatant command. Defense One. Retrieved from http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2016/04/carter-may-elevate-cybercom-full-combatant-command/127243/
