How US Army Cyber Command Pitched Camp in Augusta, Georgia
http://www.pcmag.com/news/347468/how-us-army-cyber-command-pitched-camp-in-augusta-georgia
By Sophia Stuart * August 31, 2016 08:00am EST
The United States Army is ramping up recruitment of geeks as it builds out a massive US Army Cyber Command in Augusta, Georgia, a move that could reportedly bring up to 5,000 new workers to the region, both military and civilian. On the Internet, the enemy has no intention of following the Rules of Engagement or reading the manual, so to speak. So the Department of Defense has been stealthily building something so advanced, internally and across all joint forces (Army, Navy and Marines), that it can be proactive and reactive in dealing with modern warfare. Welcome to the future of non-kinetic combat—in cyberspace. PCMag went to Augusta, Georgia, to attend TechNet Augusta and find out more about US Army Cyber Command, which will be based in the city from 2018. The overarching USCYBERCOM has its own HQ in Fort Meade, Maryland. Augusta is already home to the Army Signal Corp and its Cyber Center of Excellence at US Army Base Fort Gordon. Considering the Signal Corp is responsible for all information systems and global networks, it's essentially where you'll find the geeks of the military, so the location makes sense.At TechNet, top ranking officers from the US Army were joined by C-Suite IT and defense contract executives for a look at the latest gear, intelligence sharing, and talent scouting. Panel discussions included everything from the challenges of critical infrastructure protection and defensive cyber operations maneuver baselines to securing your warfighting platform, managing LAN devices in the cloud, and deceiving hackers with honey hashes (aka, foiling authentication attempts to grab passwords and break into networks). The exhibition hall had all the big name IT giants, including Unisys, HP, Cisco, and IBM. But that is where the similarities to a regular tech gathering ended. Most attendees were in fatigues and a few were in full military dress with medals and spit-and-polished shoes. Networking areas mingled between security intelligence briefing desks and display booths showcasing things like ultra rugged Getac X500 briefcase-sized battlefield tested mobile server units and an NSA Certified Type 1 Harris RF Falcon III communications tactical radio unit, or "Command Post in a Ruck." Bizarrely, along with the usual booth bait of branded ballpoint pens and Post-IT note giveaways, were jars of lollipops and tubs of unbuttered popcorn. They sat a little oddly amongst the rugged battle-tested equipment, but we digress. At the sit-down lunch in the chandeliered ballroom, PCMag joined a table of soldiers who had done five tours of duty in Iraq each. Sadly they weren't empowered to talk to the press, so we can't quote anything that was said. But we can confirm the trenchant humor of the military is of an excellent standard (and it did feel like having a walk-on role in M*A*S*H). The keynote speech was given by Major General Crawford, 14th Commander of the US Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM). He laid out the "New Strategic Realities" for the army to be in "readiness" at both the IOC (Initial Operational Capability) and FOC (Final Operational Capability). These include irregular warfare, sustain SWA (South West Asia) long-term and Army Posture in Europe. He also highlighted problems with privacy versus security as well as keeping current with the exponential growth in software coupled with velocity of instability in global conflict regions. Unisys Stealth Though top brass was a bit press shy, most of the top defense contractors are ex-military or formerly part of the intelligence community themselves, and they are happy to talk. PCMag sat down with two executives from Unisys: Jennifer L. Napper, Group Vice President, Department of Defense and Intelligence Group and Tom Patterson, Chief Trust Officer. Napper reached the rank of Major General in the US Army and retired after 30 years of distinguished service. She's no stranger to large scale complex IT installations, as she was responsible for engineering, operating, and securing global IT and communications networks for the Army. Her role now is to securing and delivering Unisys federal contracts to DOD and other US government entities...