FORGING THE ARMY’S CYBER DEFENSE
“Show me. Take it back here, put it on a platform, and show it to me. We need to have industry build their capability and show us how it fits into our network.”
Test-driving the software is one thing, but the Forge takes it a step further. Te Army’s networks face a constant barrage of cyberat- tacks, and its cyber protection teams rely on lessons learned from prior attacks to improve their defenses. “We are able to do a side- by-side comparison,” Helmore said. “I can rerun that entire attack here (in a controlled or simulated environment) and take a look to see how new technologies could have prevented it, or take a look at the things we’ve already done, and see how we could fine- tune what we’ve already bought to stop a future attack.”
A tweak here, a change there; Helmore sees it all as a science experiment. Take away the acquisition-speak and the fancy tech- nology and it’s really simple. “Go back to basic science,” Helmore said. “What did you do? You changed one or two variables and you saw what happened. Tat’s all we’re doing here.” Te Forge is not looking for one end-all, be-all solution, but is building cyber defense through incremental improvements.
CONCLUSION Te Forge and PEO EIS are keenly aware that they are in a literal race for cyber dominance. “As fast as we build a capability to defend the network, three other [threats] have been found to penetrate it,” Helmore said. “On a daily basis, we have hundreds of thousands of attacks on our networks.”
Training and retaining Soldiers with advanced technical skills sets is another challenge, as many are tempted to leave the Army for high-paying jobs in the private sector. Kobsar, director of Applied Cyber Technologies, is centralizing some of those tech- nical duties to allow Soldiers with basic cyber skills to operate their deployable kits and defend the network.
KEY:
“Previously, the Soldiers would have to maintain all the kits them- selves,” Kobsar said. “DCO has taken that over for them. We have something called an Armory. It’s a small building that has enough space to hold all the kits. Te Armory has a network connection, so when I have an update, I push it to all the kits that are connected in that facility down there. It’s automatically updated. It’s not taking the Soldiers away from their mission. It’s done automatically for them.”
Tis race for cyber dominance is a balancing act. It’s about supporting tomorrow’s cyber protection Soldiers, collaborating with industry partners and staying a step ahead of adversaries.
52 Army AL&T Magazine Fall 2019
ACC-RI: ARMY CONTRACTING COMMAND – ROCK ISLAND ARCYBER: U.S. ARMY CYBER COMMAND ATEC: U.S. ARMY TEST AND EVALUATION COMMAND CPB: CYBER PROTECTION BRIGADE DCO: DEFENSIVE CYBER OPERATIONS SOSSEC: SOSSEC INC., WHICH ADMINISTERS THE SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS CONSORTIUM TRADOC: U.S. ARMY TRAINING AND DOCTRINE COMMAND
Kobsar sees the cyber front as the Army’s new battlefield. “We’re just not flying airplanes anymore,” he explained. “I’m taking a virus, or I’m taking control of your nuclear power plant, or I’m taking control of that dam, or I’m going to turn your entire power grid off. Tat’s the battlespace today.”
Much as the United States relied on industry partners to out- manufacture and out-compete its opponents in World War II, Kobsar believes industry will be the key to victory in tomorrow’s battles. “We have to enable them to help us,” he said.
“Tat’s the whole vision for the building,” Evangelista explained. “We’re trying to foster that relationship and that trust with indus- try, so they start to take the reins and feel at home in this building. Like Lt. Col. Helmore and Mr. Kobsar often say, ‘Government is not going to solve these problems alone. Industry has the answers. You’ve just got to let them in.’ ” Open the door.
For more information, email
usarmy.peoeis@
mail.mil or go to
https://www.eis.army.mil/programs/dco.
ELLEN SUMMEY provides contract support to PEO EIS at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, for Bixal Solutions Inc. She holds an M.A. in human relations from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in mass communication from Louisiana State University. She has more than a decade of communication experience in both the government and commercial sectors.
MEET THE FORGE
What the Forge does, and who’s involved. (Graphic courtesy of PEO EIS)
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