Sunday, August 25, 2019

Army Cyber Command is trying to become an information warfare force

U.S. Army Cyber Command could soon have a new identity.

Commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty said this week he wants his military outfit, dedicated to electronic warfare and information operations, to be renamed as the “Army Information Warfare Command.”

The rechristening would better represent a new military mission, he said, and come at a time when Army cyber personnel increasingly deal with troll farms on social media, disrupt ISIS operations, and work to confuse international adversaries’ understanding of U.S. military units’ location.

Image result for U.S. Army Cyber Command could soon have a new identity.  Commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty said this week he wants his military outfit, dedicated to electronic warfare and information operations, to be renamed as the “Army Information Warfare Command.”  The rechristening would better represent a new military mission, he said, and come at a time when Army cyber personnel increasingly deal with troll farms on social media, disrupt ISIS operations, and work to confuse international adversaries’ understanding of U.S. military units’ location.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Army Cyber Warfare Units Are Seriously Undermanned: GAO

The Army needs more personnel for its ambitious plan to fend off cyberattacks by high-tech enemies, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The Army has rushed to meet the threat of cyber and electronic warfare from China, Russia and other potential adversaries, but the plan's accelerated schedule has gotten ahead of the training and equipment needed for implementation, the GAO said in a report released Thursday.

In short, the Army needs more troops with cyber skills to fill the ranks of the specialized units being created to meet the threat, but there's stiff competition from the higher-paying private sector.

A ceremony marks the launch of the first-ever Intelligence, Information, Cyber, Electronic Warfare and Space Detachment in the U.S. Army, Jan. 1, 2019. (U.S. Army/Pvt. Caleb Minor)

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Digital Stiletto: Army Pursues Precision Electronic Warfare

WASHINGTON: After decades of neglect, the Army is urgently rebuilding its electronic warfare arm in a radically different form from the Cold War. The US isn’t trying to replicate the high-powered Russia arsenal that has scrambled GPS, radar, and radio from Scandinavia and Ukraine to Syria and Israel. Instead, the Army intends to combine EW with cyber, signals intelligence, and artificial intelligence to counter Russian power with a new kind of precision.

“When the Russians emit like that, they’re letting the entire world known where they are,” Col. Mark Dotson, the Army’s capabilities manager for EW, told reporters in June. That makes the Russian transmitters easier targets for the new long-range precision missiles that the US is developing.

Army photo

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Chinese State Hackers Suspected Of Malicious Cyber Attack On U.S. Utilities

The notorious Chinese state-sponsored hacking group APT10, which is believed to act for the country's Ministry of State Security, is the most likely culprit behind a cyber campaign targeting U.S. utility companies in July. The disclosure on August 1 was made by researchers at Proofpoint, who warned that "persistent targeting of any entity that provides critical infrastructure should be considered an acute risk—the profile of this campaign is indicative of specific risk to U.S.-based entities in the utilities sector."

The spear-phishing campaign targeted company employees with emails purporting to be from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), emails that claimed to be delivering professional examination results but which were actually delivering "malicious" Microsoft Word attachments. Threat researchers at Proofpoint broke the news and dubbed the command and control malware "LookBack."

uncaptioned

Israel Announces Increased Cyber Security Measures For Communications Companies

On April 2, the Israeli government announced its intention to significantly enhance the cybersecurity of Israeli communications networks in ...