CYBR650 Week 6
The supreme art of war
is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu
Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head.
Euripides
Euripides
Cyberwarfare is Internet-based conflict involving politically motivated attacks on information and information systems. Cyberwarfare attacks can disable official websites and networks, disrupt or disable essential services, steal or alter classified data, and cripple financial systems -- among many other possibilities.
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1.
Defend the DoD Information Network – One of the first actions the Cyber
Command took was to consolidate all the IT systems from the entire DoD – three branches,
four uniformed services and nine unified commands (over 7 million devices) into
a single unified architecture. Very
soon, the entire military will be linked through one command-and-control
structure. They’ve modernized the
equipment and streamlined operations. There are some potential weaknesses
created by this, but it seems to be outweighed by centralized monitoring, easy
updating and quick response to attacks.
2.
Support Military Commanders - One of the biggest advantages of the
unification is being able to provide a unified response to any attack from all
services and from air, land or sea.
3.
Defend
our nation against a cyberattack – While not perfect, defenses are getting
stronger through a series of initiatives.
The DoD experiences 41 mission scans, probes and attacks each
month. The penetrations that were
detected have all been quickly dealt with.
One of the biggest weaknesses in all of the breaches has been the human factor. And believe it or not, the Cyber Command is
doing better in fixing the human factor weaknesses than most private sector
companies using a concept called high reliability organization or HRO. These are systems that can’t afford to learn
from mistakes such as nuclear power plants, air traffic control systems and high-speed
rail, they have to correct deviations before they become problems.
How they did it –
If any of you have experience with the US military, you will recognize they got
a lot of work done in 7 years. The Cyber
Command modeled its operation on the US Navy’s nuclear propulsion program which
has arguably the best safety record. The
nuclear program has built a culture on six
principles that limit the impact of human error.
Integrity – strongly held convictions that eliminate deliberate
departures from clear protocol. Everyone
reports mistakes immediately. The
standard is set very high and there are no second chances. Everyone is accountable and held accountable
for their actions. The result is minor problems
are reported and fixed quickly.
Depth of knowledge – training is thorough and broad. The system is fully understood, including weaknesses. Close supervision, testing and drills are
common.
Procedural compliance – operational procedures are followed to the
letter. There is an extensive inspection
system including simulated emergencies.
Forceful backup – Everyone who performs a high risk action is
backed up with another fully qualified person so all risky tasks are performed
by two people. Everyone is authorized to
stop a process when a problem arises.
Questioning attitude – operators are trained to question any anomalies
that are detected and they must be corrected.
Formal communications – Directions are clearly stated in a formal,
prescribed manner and repeated back verbatim.
Small talk is discouraged.
What we can learn
– What are the lessons cyber professionals can learn from Cyber Command and the
nuclear program? Pretty much every human
factor that leads to a breach is a violation of at least one of the principles. Is it possible for your organization to operate
at such a high standard? Most likely it’s
not possible, but everyone can build these concepts into their daily
practices. Training goes a long way in
recognizing when something isn’t right.
Document processes and then follow them.
Always have a backout plan.
Communicate clearly. Empower
everyone on the team to speak up when they aren’t sure or don’t understand. Strong leadership is critical to build this
kind of environment. If you don’t have a
leader like this that you can follow, lead from where you are by enforcing these
principles on yourself and those you can influence. Be a high reliability employee in your
cyberwarfare.
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