Why Cybersecurity Matters

In light of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, below are a few excerpts from a great article from the AP's Richard Lardner on why cybersecurity matters.

The issue:
The risk of a devastating cyberattack on the United States is real. But is it too remote to justify the costs of countermeasures? That's the quandary. There's no question the country remains vulnerable to an electronic Pearl Harbor as debate goes on over the role the federal government should play in securing computer networks that control the electrical grid, water supply and other critical sectors.

Why it matters:

Without warning, the electricity goes out, leaving you and your family in the dark for days, perhaps weeks. Or the gates of a dam holding back millions of gallons of water open suddenly and flood towns below. Or pipes in a chemical plant rupture, releasing deadly gas.

Any one, or all, of these nightmare scenarios could be invisibly set in motion by hackers, terrorist groups or foreign governments with the motivation and technical knowhow. Gen. Keith Alexander, head of U.S. Cyber Command, has rated the country's preparedness for a major cyberattack as poor, a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10.

But Congress hasn't taken action to bolster digital defenses. The ideological divisions between Republicans and Democrats have grown so wide that the parties can't agree on how to confront a risk they acknowledge is real. 

Read the full article here: http://www.the-review.com/ap%20politics/2012/10/11/why-it-matters-cybersecurity

ROTC's Return to Ivy Leagues

AFA is excited to see the return of an Air Force ROTC detachment into Ivy League schools. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Yale University’s campus on Friday, Sept. 21, to welcome Air Force and Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps detachments to the campus. 

Last May, after 41 years of absence, a reserve officers' training corps presence announced its return to Harvard University. Navy Secretary Ray Maybus and Harvard University President Drew Faust earlier signed an agreement returning an ROTC program to the school, effective with the end of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.'

All three services (Navy, Army and Air Force) left the campus during the Vietnam War. They were barred from returning based on the school's objections to DADT. Cornell University is currently the only Ivy League school with an Air Force ROTC host presence.

The return of an Air Force ROTC detachment to the Ivy League school came about under the agreement signed in September 2011 by Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Yale President Richard Levin. 

Read more from the Air Force Magazine’s article: http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArchive/Pages/2012/September%202012/September%2012%202012/WelcomeBack.aspx

Upcoming AF Breakfast Series: Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy

AFA welcomes back Dr. Kevin T. Geiss, a member of the Senior Executive Service, as the guest speaker for the October session of the AFA Air Force Breakfast Program. [This session will be held on Wednesday, October 17, 2012, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., at the Crystal City Marriott in Arlington, Virginia]

Since 2010, Dr. Kevin T. Geiss has been the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Logistics, in Washington, D.C. He is responsible for providing oversight and direction for all matters pertaining to the formulation, review, and execution of plans, policies, programs, and budgets for the effective and efficient use of energy to support the global Air Force mission.

Top 4 Air Force Accomplishments in FY12 (under his guidance):

1. Alternative Aviation Fuels:

• Finished certifying fleet on synthetic fuel blend
• Completed testing of 50/50 blend of HRJ & JP-8 and synthesis
• Began testing 50/50 blend of ATJ and JP-8

2. Continued developing on-base renewable energy projects:

• More than 180 renewable projects in operation or under construction
• Awarded contract to develop a 14.5 MW solar project at Davis Monthan AFB

3. Pursued 3rd-party Energy Conservation projects

4. Won 6 FEMP (Federal Energy Management Program) awards


Registration available at http://2012octbkft.eventbrite.com/.

Note from the AFA President

I’d like to introduce myself.  I’m Craig McKinley, the new President of this great Association, and I want to tell you how excited I am about joining you in the great work of AFA.  I appreciate my predecessor’s beginning these notes, and I plan to keep sending them to keep up the airpower dialogue we’ve enjoyed over the past five years.

National Cyber Security Awareness Month has been observed each October since its inception in 2004 and is used nationally as an opportunity to encourage safe practices and protection while operating in the cyber domain. As the nation’s critical infrastructure relies heavily on the Internet and networking for almost everything, there is a need for resiliency in this area more than ever. With increased connectivity comes increased risk and vulnerabilities – thus making cybersecurity one of our country’s most important national security priorities.

AFA has adopted the task of helping prepare today’s youth for cyber leadership with the establishment of CyberPatriot—The National High School Cyber Defense Competition. In CyberPatriot, participants compete online as their assignment is to identify and correct flaws and weaknesses in simulated computer systems while keeping specified computer functions working. It teaches students to defend and protect computer networks from real-life computer threat scenarios.

We are pleased to announce that registrations for the 2012-2013 school year have again passed 1,000 teams in all 50 states! There are only a few days left until registration closes (October 6), so please, help spread the word to your local high schools, JROTC squadrons, Naval Sea Cadets, and Civil Air Patrol units.

This year, 26 teams will earn all-expenses paid trips to the Washington, DC area where they will compete head-to-head at the National Finals Competition in late March.  Every member of last year’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place teams were awarded scholarships from CyberPatriot’s presenting sponsor, the Northrop Grumman Foundation.

Visit http://www.uscyberpatriot.org/Documents/CP_V__Reg_by_State.pdf to find out if your local school has signed up! Registration continues through October 6th.  Please visit www.uscyberpatriot.org. 

For your consideration,

Craig

Craig R. McKinley
President
Air Force Association

2012 Global Warfare Symposium -- 6 Weeks Out

AFA is ramping up for its next conference--the Global Warfare Symposium. Following the great success and reception of the Air & Space Conference, AFA’s 2012 Global Warfare Symposium also will allow all military members on Active Duty and DoD civilian personnel to attend the conference free of charge.
 
With the theme "Pivot to the Pacific, and the Increasing Demands on Space & ISR,” top military leaders will address the contributions of space to the combat environment and future challenges affecting the military in this unique symposium.

It will once again be held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, from Thursday, November 15 to Friday, November 16, 2012.

The Global Warfare Symposium seeks to deliver the latest information regarding the global role of the Air Force in the world today and will provide critical insight on technological developments and program updates. Highlighted at this event will be many opportunities for professional development and growth as speakers cover an array of topics, including Space Command, Strategic Command, Pacific Air Forces and Air Force ISR.

Invited Speakers Include:

• General Mark Welsh
• Secretary Michael Donley
• General William Shelton
• General Hawk Carlisle
• Acting Under Secretary of the Air Force Jamie Morin
• Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski
• Lt. Gen. James Kowalski
• Lt. Gen. Larry James
• Gwynne Shotwell
• Bran Ferren
• See the full agenda online

Visit the AFA Global Warfare Symposium site for information and updates.

Guest Blogger: Air Force Enterprise

Maj. Gen. Earl Matthews

Guest blogger and AFA member Nancy Armour, Director of Federal Sales at Terremark, attended a panel session on the Air Force Enterprise, moderated by Maj. Gen. Earl Matthews, Director, Cyberspace Operations, Office of Information Dominance and Chief Information Officer, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. [Panel members included Brig. Gen. David Uhrich, Director of Communications, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Ms. Essye Miller, SES, Director, Headquarters AF Information Management, Office of the Administration to the Secretary of the Air Force, and Mr. Frank Konieczny, SES, Chief Technology Officer, Office of Information Dominance and CIO, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force.]

Below is her take-away:

The discussion began with a question to Brig. Gen. Uhrich who was asked what ACC, as a consumer, needed from the Air Force Enterprise. Brig. Gen. Uhrich stated that he wants to understand more about what will be in the infrastructure, including what services will be provided to who and when. He needs a reliable, centrally managed robust service and says they should “think big, start small, and scale fast”. He has moved staff from delivering enterprise services to focusing on the MAJCOM’s unique responsibility as the steward of 5 of the missions in the core function master plan. The Air Force needs to look at how email is provided, and if and when they should migrate to a DISA provided email service. He also felt that portals, data centers, and cloud services should be part of the enterprise offering.

Mr. Konieczny was asked to discuss activities related to the Joint Information Enterprise (JIE). He started by saying that the purpose of the initiative is to allow DoD systems to be more effective, and increase situational awareness across DoD. He said there would be no Program Office and no procurement for JIE. The tenets of JIE are for DoD to share information. He used enterprise data centers as an example of shared assets. Data Centers across the world, and across organizations, will be selected as enterprise data centers and PaaS, IaaS and storage will be offered from them. Network normalization needs to occur to allow for better situational awareness. He also stated there would be a centralized management of the enterprise, not a pure joint effort, but DoD working together. He also spoke about how ABAC (Attribute Based Access Control) will be implemented to provide additional data protection.

Ms. Miller spoke briefly about the AF National Capitol District Washington pending procurement. They are focusing the follow-on procurement to ensure a strong representation of small business is included. She is looking for input from industry on what changes have occurred over the last 8 years in how services are being delivered that should be taken into account.

Questions from the audience included a question that Mr Konieczny addressed regarding how the Air Force plans to handle big data. He said this is one of the largest challenges as more and more data is collected. They are gathering more data than can be understood and analyzed and are looking for a solution from industry to help with this challenge.

Brig Gen Uhrich was asked to speak about the progress ACC has made with mobility. He stated he is a believer of “Bring Your Own Device” for some of the work they do. The challenge continues to be managing classified data on mobile devices. He thinks there is a solution out there that can be deployed to address concerns and allow the technology to be used effectively.

The wrap up discussion focused on acquisition and finding a way to strike a balance between functionality and the challenges related to the significant budget cuts that are coming. The benefits and challenges of using open source code was also touched on. The Air Force Smart Operations activity, specifically related to how to accredit cloud services, was also mentioned.

[The event was hosted by AFCEA’s DC Chapter.]

Sequestration Update

Sequestration, meaning to separate or confiscate, continues to be the elephant in the room. It is coming and it will have a devastating effect on national defense unless Congress and the Administration work together to head it off.

When the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, nicknamed the Super Committee, failed to come to agreement on additional budget cuts to trim the deficit last November, the repercussion – in line with the Budget Control Act – is for sequestration to take effect next January 2013.

No one exactly knows what will happen when and if “sequestration” occurs but it will be ugly. An additional $450 billion cut across the department of defense on top of an already $487 billion cut will have dire consequences.While sequestration was never meant to take place, senior military leaders have gone on record stating that it would bring about devastating effects.

As many as 150,000 troops and tens of thousands of civilians could be cut from Defense and, according to a study by Dr. Stephen S. Fuller at George Mason University, additional cuts to the defense budget will result in potential job losses (direct, indirect, community) of hundreds of thousands within the industrial base and local communities.

Last week, Peter Singer penned a five-part series on Sequestration, and what it would do to U.S. Military Power, breaking it down to a simpler level.

[Part 1: A sequestration primer;Part 2: Comparing defense budgets, apples to apples;
Part 3: A case study: east Asia;Part 4: Impact on the Korean peninsula; Part 5: Stupid, but not disastrous.]

It's a series of articles worth reading to get a better idea of sequestration and the defense budget in relation to the overall U.S. budget. But it must be kept in mind that its not just the defense budget that will slashed. Education, childcare and unemployment programs -- among many others -- are all "under threat" as these across-the-board cuts are scheduled to strike in January 2013. (Here's a report b y the White House's Office of Management and Budget: which programs are sequestrable: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/legislative_reports/stareport.pdf)

"Sequestration would be a terribly stupid thing to do. It not only wouldn’t solve the core problems driving the U.S. debt crisis, but it would also cut the defense budget in an incredibly un-strategic manner, cutting both the good and the bad by the same portions with no planning. -- Peter Singer"