Navy prepares cyber warfare strategy

Bill Gertz:

The U.S. Navy is preparing to wage cyber warfare attacks against enemies during conflicts and must avoid strategic surprise from a future cyber attack on its networks, according to a strategy report made public Wednesday night.

“The opening salvos of the next war will likely occur in cyberspace and the Navy must be ready,” the report said. “We must organize, train, and resource a credible workforce of cyber professionals and develop forward-leaning, interoperable, and resilient cyberspace capabilities to successfully counter and defeat a determined adversary in cyberspace.”

The report, “Navy Cyber Power 2020,” outlines the Navy’s plans to defend against cyber attacks and to conduct cyber warfare and other operations in future conflicts.

Threat of cyber attack comes from nations, terrorists, and hackers. Among the threats are jamming of communications of weapons systems and aircraft; denial of network communications; disruptive internal penetrations of computer networks; and attacks on critical infrastructure, according to the report.

Computer networks and the information they provide are key advantages that “enabled the Navy to act with speed, agility, and precision in a broad spectrum of operations ranging from humanitarian assistance to major combat operations,” the report said.

However, these advantages could become vulnerabilities if the Navy is prevented from fighting effectively due to cyber attacks.

“Practically all major systems on ships, aircraft, submarines, and unmanned vehicles are networked to some degree,” the report said. These systems include most combat, communications, engineering, and position, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems used in precision guided missile and bomb attacks.

Key objectives for the coming decade will be to make sure cyberspace can be used for critical mission functions and to command and control forces.

To prevent “strategic surprise in cyberspace” the Navy will also monitor adversary actions in cyberspace through intelligence operations and analysis.

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There is much more.

The Navy has already had to deal with some cyber attacks.  It is very likely that the Chicoms plan cyber attacks as part of their first wave attacks against the US.  Countering those moves and launching attacks against their capabilities should be a high priority.