Limited visibility into cyberthreats— Cybersecurity technologies of yesterday are too large and expensive to deploy, leav- ing tactical networks ill-equipped with the mobility and scalability needed in a cyber warfighting environment. Without the right technologies in place, Soldiers’ views into the threat landscape can be restricted and even at times inaccurate, as real-time situational awareness of cyberthreats is impaired.
Shortage of cybersecurity skills in tacti- cal settings—A response to cybersecurity threats on the battlefield must come in real
time, as the difference between
waiting hours and days versus seconds and minutes to respond could have dire consequences. Yet, the shortage of cyber specialists readily deployed and available in tactical environments makes real-time response difficult if not impossible. And even for tactical operators in the field, maintaining multiple systems can be over- whelming.
More vulnerability at the tactical networks—Te electronic footprints of current tactical networks are often easy to discover, and the closeness of adver- saries in battlefield environments makes it easier for communications to be inter- cepted, which is all the more heightened given how tactical networks are tradi- tionally dispersed. Internal and external cyberthreats at the edge of the network challenge DOD when it comes to rapid detection and response.
EDGE COMPUTING Innovations in the internet of things, sensors, analytics and artificial intelli- gence promise entirely new warfighting capabilities, serving as force multipliers and enabling new levels of situational awareness. New robotic and autonomous systems promise to reduce the number of warfighters
in harm’s way, while
speeding our ability to project force on the battlefront.
Advances in cloud, high-performance computing and storage are key enablers for these systems—driving tactical networks to deploy warfighting systems that rely heavily on high-performance computing and storage. But in the event of degraded long-distance communications caused by cyber and electronic warfare attacks, those computer and storage resources may only be available if deployed to the tacti- cal network’s edge. Tactical networks need data center-like computer, networking and storage capabilities at the edge to support applications, including:
• Situational awareness, mission command and command-and-control applications.
• Signal and image data gathering and analytics workloads.
• Emerging internet of things and sensor fusion-based applications.
• Cybersecurity and virtual desktop infra- structure solutions.
Additionally, as DOD enterprise IT moves to the cloud, tactical networks must unify access to data and applications from the enterprise level to the tactical edge. Tis means deploying cloudlike services at the tactical edge of the network, so that data is available at the edge even when WAN connectivity is unavailable.
At the same time, the internet of battle- field things is raising the table stakes significantly when it comes to the volume and complexity of devices and sensors in tactical environments that can be compro- mised. From wearables on the troops themselves to connected tanks, helicop- ters and drones, interconnectivity through the internet of things is only an advantage as long as it is secure, trusted and available.
CHARLIE KAWASAKI, Certified Infor- mation Systems Security Professional, joined PacStar in early 2005. He is the chief tech- nical officer, leading numerous innovation programs and developing tactical solutions for secure wireless, cybersecurity and data center applications. He is part of the PacStar team that recently won the networking equipment awards for both the U.S. Army Transport- able Tactical Command Communications and U.S. Marine Corps Networking-On- Te-Move vehicle-mount and deployable tactical communications programs. He has more than 35 years’ experience in cybersecu- rity, software and network engineering, and systems integration. He serves on the board of the Technology Association of Oregon, is vice chair of the Oregon Cybersecurity Advisory Council (
www.cyberoregon.com), and is co-founder of Northwest Cyber Camp (www.
nwcyber.camp).
HTTPS: / /
ASC.ARMY.MIL 125
A new class of modular, tactical data centers is becoming available for tacti- cal and expeditionary programs, capable of hosting cloud and storage, artificial intelligence and analytics applications. Using ultra-small form-factor modules for computer, storage and networking functions that reduce size, weight and power requirements, these systems can be deployed dismounted, at forward oper- ating bases, in command posts, and on ground vehicles and aircraft—supporting a diverse array of use cases in disconnected, intermittent and limited environments.
U.S. forces are taking advantage of commercial IT advances to maintain overmatch, reduce costs and ultimately modernize their tactical networks in order to stay one step ahead of increasingly well- equipped adversaries.
For more information about new IT tech- nologies transforming the battlefield, go to
www.pacstar.com.
COMMENTARY
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