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11 The Summary

11             The theme for my blog is/was cyber-security in the military.   I chose this theme for two reasons.   One, having experienced first-hand the efforts on the part of the military against cyber-threats, I found it intriguing.      Not to mention the fact that around the time we were establishing blogs there were two maritime collisions involving Naval warships.   And two, I wanted to explore the viability of the efforts being made to protect military networks, and examine for correlations between the collisions and any possible criminal activity by external actors seeking to cause dissention amongst the ranks.   My blog contains an eclectic mix of cyber-security related stories to those that have the potential to impact not only members of the military, but the private sector as well.   Also, my week 9 blog post was one of the more enjoyable posts to write having benefited from a similar program that allowed me to certify as CompTia Security +.   Without these types o
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10 Air Force IDS Testing Pioneers

10             Given this week’s lesson on Intrusion Detection Systems I thought it apt to discuss military testing of such systems.   In my research, I came across a paper written by Terrence Champion, a research scientist at the Air Force INFOSEC Research Lab in Hanscom, MA, and Robert Durst, a former Air Force security programmer turned research scientist for SenCom supporting the AFRL.   These two gentlemen are nothing more than pioneers in the way that military began testing IDS’s in the late nineties.   With the help of UC Santa Barbara, they were able to develop a test bed in which to test and analyze some of the early ID systems that were being introduced.   Their test bed consisted of a virtual network which simulated the complexities of a MAN and through the utilization of software, used to assign arbitrary source protocol addresses to individual sessions, were able to recreate the type of traffic “patterns” of a much larger network.   This process was vital to the tes
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9 CompTia and Microsoft Join Forces to Help Transitioning Vets

9      CompTIA and Microsoft, as part of their advocacy program, have announced via press release their intent to partner up in an effort to ease military to civilian career transition.      This move will enable the more than 35,000 service members that transition, or have transitioned, from active duty to a higher-paying career in the IT workforce.  The Microsoft Software and Systems Academy (MSSA), the flagship of the initiative, will consist of an 18-week training program designed to teach service members the critical skills required to be successful in today’s IT industry.   Upon successful completion, candidates will be guaranteed an interview at Microsoft or with one of more than 220 hiring partners.      This is a welcome and unprecedented move on the part of Microsoft and CompTia.   As a former transitioning veteran it is “too little, too late”.   However, current transition veterans can absolutely take advantage of this opportunity.   And the fact that Net
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8 Department of Defense Cyber Strategy: My Impression

8      As of April 2015, we continue to see ongoing interest in building up defenses again cyber-attacks both domestic and foreign in nature.   This is a breath of fresh air for those of us who keep abreast of threats and potential threats to our national network infrastructure.   What’s even more of a “relief” is that there is an actual document, produced by the Department of Defense, which outlines measures and areas of concern in regards to our cyber strategy.   No longer are we left wondering about who is taking lead on this ever growing concern not just on a national, but global scale as well.      This 42 page report outlines goals, objectives, and strategy management.   Perusing through the contents I came upon one of the more interesting tenets of the report, goal III, the preparation of defenses of the U.S. homeland and vital interests from disruptive or destructive cyber attacks of significance consequence.   The goal is to work closely with inter-agency partners and
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7 Sticky Fingers Kim and Co

7 Kim Jong-un and company are at it again.   This time critical military contingency plans were lifted by North Korean hackers in September of last year!   How’s that for military OpSec!?   The leak, which consisted of 235 gigabytes data, has not yet been fully identified.   So far, only about 80 percent of the data is known and it is clear that the ramifications of this breach have already been felt.   Increasing tension with North Korea is more than likely an outcome of this.   A “decapitation” plan, which is said to include the blueprint to remove Kim Jong-un from power should war break out on the peninsula, was also compromised. As confirmed by one of the members of the defense committee of the National Assembly, 300 lower-classification confidential documents were stolen (Sang-Hun, 2017) .   Other lawmakers like Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun and Pentagon spokesman Col. Robert Manning, have not been so forthcoming with information about the breach.   This com
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