Navy to Begin Preparations for Cyber Warfare - Blog: U.S. warships that patrol treacherous waterways like the Strait of Hormuz are ready to respond to a wide array of threats, including underwater explosives, kamikaze boats and missile strikes. They are less prepared, though, to cope with a cyber onslaught on their computer systems.
A massive intrusion a year ago of the Navy's largest unclassified network, the Navy-Marine Corps intranet, was a big wake-up call, said Matthew Swartz, director of communications and networks for the deputy chief of naval operations for information dominance. The hostile infiltration of NMCI, which is used by nearly 800,000 sailors and Marines around the world, brought home the realization that computer systems ashore and deployed forces are all part of the same cyberspace. And that both are just as vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Swartz is in charge of what the Navy calls "task force cyber awakening," a sweeping effort to understand the fleet's vulnerabilities as systems become digitized and the military grows increasingly dependent on the internet for essential communications and operations.
The task force was created in August and has brought in representatives from every major department in the Navy, including ship and aircraft designers, and fleet commanders. It is supposed to provide recommendations in the coming months on how the Navy should organize and equip itself to fight in cyberspace.
