Soldiers today are connecting more and more to the web and technology. Pictured here: A 2003 handout photo showing the “Scorpion ensemble” future battle dress for U.S. soldiers, being developed at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass…includes state of the art communications, hi speed internet connection, live video data feeds, including maps, GPS coordinates, night vision gear, body senors and the latest technology in protective armor. (U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center,Sarah Underhill, handout).
Contained within a Senate report, dealing with the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill was a “blip” about Cyber Forces.
Sadly the news was not good.
Apparently there are no funds included in the 2014 budget request to modify the Army cyber missions.
Cyberwarfare refers to politically motivated hacking to conduct sabotage and espionage. It is a form of information warfare sometimes seen as analogous to conventional warfare, according to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberwarfare).
Cyberwarfare consists of many different threats: Clapper divides these into cyber espionage and cyber attacks, the latter of which he defines as the top security threat to the United States.
Cyberspace is on par with the other war-fighting domains of land, sea, air and space.
It definitely falls under the purview of the Department of Defense and the Army in particular.
In 2013 Cyberwarfare was, for the first time, considered a larger threat than Al-Qaeda or terrorism, by many U.S. intelligence officials…
The following was cited in the report:
“Army Cyber Forces Footprint– Army cyber forces are currently dispersed throughout the continental United States, with key elements co-located with U.S. Cyber Command, and other service cyber components, which allows for significant synergies and operational efficiencies. The Committee understands that the Army is currently reviewing its cyber forces footprint. Following conversations with Army leadership, the Committee understands that these discussions are preliminary, and that no funds are included in the fiscal year 2014 budget request to modify or move the Army’s cyber missions. The Committee directs the Army to brief the congressional defense committees on any proposed adjustments to the Army’s cyber footprint, to include the associated training, infrastructure and sustainment costs” (source: Congressional Record,Senate Report 113-085, Cyber Mission Force http://thomas.loc.gov).
How this could adversely impact the Army’s Cyber Command mission is unknown.
The Department of Defense press office declined comment in this matter.