US Steps Up Its Cyberwar Capability
The Trump administration is finalising plans to revamp the military chain of command for defensive and offensive cyber operations in the hope of boosting the US’s ability to wage cyber war against Islamic State and other foes.
Under the plans, US Cyber Command eventually would be split off from the intelligence-¬focused National Security Agency, according to US officials.
Details are still being worked out, but officials say they expect a decision and announcement in the coming weeks.
They said the goal was to give US Cyber Command more autonomy, freeing it from constraints that stem from working alongside the NSA, which is responsible for monitoring and collecting telephone, Internet and other intelligence data from around the world, a responsibility that can sometimes clash with military operations against enemy forces.
Making Cyber an independent military command will put the fight in digital space on the same footing as more traditional realms of battle on land, in the air, at sea and in space.
The move reflects the escalating threat of cyber-attacks and intrusions from other countries, terrorist groups and hackers, and comes as the US faces increasing fears about Russian hacking following Moscow’s efforts to meddle in last year’s US presidential election.
The US has long operated quietly in cyberspace, using it to collect information, disrupt enemy networks and aid conventional military missions.
However, as other nations and foes expand their use of cyber-spying and attacks, the US is determined to improve its ¬ability to incorporate cyber operations into its war operations. Experts said the command would need time to find its footing.
“Right now I think it’s inevitable, but it’s on a very slow glide path,” said Jim Lewis, a cybersecurity expert with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
However, he said: “A new entity is not going to be able to duplicate NSA’s capabilities.”
For example, the NSA has 300 of the country’s leading mathematicians “and a gigantic super computer”, Mr Lewis said. “Things like this are hard to duplicate.”
Over time, the US had increasingly used cyber operations as a tactical weapon, bolstering the argument for separating it from the NSA, he said. The two highly secretive organisations, based at Fort Meade, Maryland, have been under the same four-star commander since Cyber Command’s creation in 2009. However, the Defence Department has been agitating for a separation, perceiving the NSA and intelligence community as resistant to more aggressive cyber-warfare.
Although the military wanted to attack Islamic State’s networks, intelligence objectives prioritised gathering information from them, according to US officials familiar with the ¬debate.
“NSA is truly an intelligence-collection organisation,” said Lauren Fish, a research associate with the Centre for a New American Security.
“It should be collecting information, writing reports on it. Cyber Command is meant to be an organisation that uses tools to have military operational effect.”
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