Cyber Command’s Plan to ‘frustrate’ Hackers Is Working
Gen. Paul Nakasone, the head of US Cyber Command, used a prepared testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month to describe an organisation that has been more active in recent months and one that is conducting cyber operations in multiple places throughout the world.
“They are actively in our network communications, attempting to steal data and impact our weapons systems. So advantage is gained by those who maintain a continual state of action.”
In prepared remarks before the committee, Nakasone said that under a new guiding philosophy referred to as “Defend Forward,” the Department of Defense will take action against those who attack the United States. Defend Forward is often described as fighting the cyber battle on someone else’s turf as opposed to fighting it at home.
This includes gaining access to adversary networks or infrastructure to get insights into what they might be planning.
“In practice, this means confronting our adversaries from where they launch cyberattacks and developing robust capabilities that are responsive to Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA) activities,” Nakasone wrote in his testimony.
What has this Meant in Action?
Nakasone outlined how the command supported European Command, Northern Command, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation to defend against attacks on the 2018 midterm elections. This included establishing a Russia small group within the NSA, as well as working with European Command and European countries.
“We created a persistent presence in cyberspace to monitor adversary actions and crafted tools and tactics to frustrate their efforts,” Nakasone said.
Second, Cyber Command is also supporting ongoing DoD operations in the physical realm, namely against terrorist actors.
“We are employing cyber capabilities to improve force protection, bolster intelligence, understand and shape the information environment, and disrupt the operations, command and control and propaganda of several insurgent and terrorist groups in support of Central Command, Africa Command and Special Operations Command,” he said.
“Cyberspace operations in places like Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan today integrate and synchronise cyberspace and information operations with kinetic missions, with each enabling the other for offensive, force protection and intelligence purposes.”
One aspect of Cyber Command’s operation apparently involved a form of electronic signaling to Russian hackers and their trolls who purposely say things that are controversial and conduct disinformation campaigns on social media.
The signaling said that the US knew where the Russians’ command-and-control systems were and could disrupt them if need be, according to officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive operations.
Officials have been reluctant to disclose additional details, saying that doing so could help US adversaries.
Nakasone also pointed to the shift in the counter-terrorism mission, aligning Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command to the cyber component supporting the joint and coalition efforts to degrade ISIS in Iraq and Syria and sought to deny ISIS’s use of cyberspace for spreading its message and coordinating operations known as Joint Task Force-Ares.
Previously, Army Cyber Command was in charge of the task force. Under what is known as the Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber (JFHQ-C) construct, which provides planning, targeting, intelligence and cyber capabilities to assigned combatant commands, MARFORCYBER supports Special Operations Command.
In one sense, this realignment was thought to be a natural progression as the Marines are aligned with Special Operations Command and its transregional mission to counter violent extremists.
Moreover, Nakasone wrote that Joint Task Force-Ares has embarked on a special mission partnership with NSA to act together as a hub for whole-of-government cyber planning in the ongoing counterterror fight.
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