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What's happening in the federal IT community
By Thursday, August 30, 2007 | 9:30 AM
For about a decade, the Defense Department has pursued the military strategy of network-centric warfare, the idea of using computers to deliver strategic real-time information to the battlefield and commanders in war rooms. The Chinese think this is a soft underbelly that can be exploited to its advantage, according to an article posted yesterday by The International Herald Tribune. From the article:
[U.S. and other foreign military analysts] cite articles and reports in Chinese military journals and magazines that suggest attacks aimed at extracting intelligence from enemy computer networks or disrupting communication and signals processing could deliver a decisive military advantage."It is part of China's concept of unlimited war," said Philip Yang, an expert on the Chinese military and professor of international relations at the National Taiwan University.
"The idea of unlimited war means employing all possible means including nontraditional or nonconventional means in the aim of winning the war."
The article goes on to state, "Chinese defense planners also view cyber warfare as a means of undermining the technological edge of American forces," according to a June report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
This may not come as big news to U.S. Defense strategists, but the recent tensions over allegations that the Chinese military hacked into computer systems operated by the German government has increased worldwide interest in China's interest in cyberwarfare and its intentions.
Comments
The fight for global dominance will always net the utilization of every asset available, both conventional and otherwise. The Chinese masterfully exercise this tool by penetrating the DOD marketspace and will utilize every asset the US has made available to them. Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.
(Ayn Rand. Atlas Shrugged, Part I, Chapter VII).
But the Chinese don't truly understand the real advantage behind Net-Centric Warfare - the development of the TTP's that allow U.S. Commanders to take advantage of whatever systems they have available to them, and reduce the OODA loop. NCW is not about the hardware or networks, it is about being able to flatten the C2 structure, enabling self-synchronization, even if some of the systems are shutdown or compromised.
Tim Snyder | Monday, September 17, 2007 | 10:42 AMChinese capabilities - It is a scarey development. When are we going to learn that from their perspective, one -worldism is a desirable aim, as long as it's Chinese.
ALF | Tuesday, September 11, 2007 | 8:17 AMNew Weapons Require Revised Battlefield Tactics
&
Open Source Software is a New Global Weapon
A wholesale leadership failure in the Civil War was the continued use of outdated Napoleonic, massed bayonet battlefield tactics after the introduction of the highly accurate Sharpe’s rifled musket. This advanced weapon, accurate to 250 yards, bought a whole new lethality to the battlefield. This was the main cause for the ranking of the Civil War causalities as the highest in the history of American conflict. Also, the introduction of two iron clad ships during the Civil War within just one year, rendered combat capabilities and tactics of every ship in every navy on the globe, obsolete.
During WWII, the Polish Calvary wielding swords was inadequate against the mechanized Nazi blitzkrieg into Poland with hub-to-hub Panzer tanks. These mismatches in weapons vs. tactics have a strong parallel in Open Source Software (OSS). The mismatch clearly appears to be in the absence of a DoD realization that an evolution in the contenders network warfare software has recently occurred requiring revised tactics to protect against, much less exploit OSS technology advancements.
Titan Rain, the massively scaled Chinese network intrusion system recently reported in the Federal Computer Weekly to be attacking and harvesting the DoD, is all about advanced OSS capabilities when seen through the lens of software engineering and knowledge of OSS. Media reported Chinese network attacks are grounded in the Chinese’s well-resourced commitment to, and long-sought mastery of OSS, exploiting the following attributes of OSS –
flexibility of open source code allowing,
rapid iteration in exploring attack methods, allowing
adaptive learning from rapid iteration, allowing
evolving attack methods and strategies, while
benefiting from global OSS innovations.
OSS has a profound advantage over fixed, proprietary software in its flexibility. OSS software can be modified and adapted quickly to accommodate newly discovered vulnerabilities, attack scenarios and opportunities. Taking advantage of, and protecting from, this new software requires a consciously deliberate effort.
OSS is a new software weapon requiring new tactics. The DoD is being left behind by an advanced, innovative and globally exploding software technology. There does not appear to be clear understandings of the power OSS brings in both net-centric warfare offense and defense. Only when the DoD comes to the realization that OSS has changed net-centric warfare, can the DoD close its net-centric warfare gap. The Chinese are exploiting the capabilities of OSS as the weapon they set out to master years ago. OSS is an advanced net-centric software weapon. This needs to be understood.
Sigmund Frued - II - Smell the OSS Coffee...Yes? | Wednesday, September 5, 2007 | 1:00 PMGood! Now make the CONNECTION between the Chinese mastry of Open Source Software and the DoD's ignorance of any Open Source Software policy or learning culture....Make the connection....
Sigmund Freud | Wednesday, September 5, 2007 | 12:59 PMThis is no surprise to me. The Chinese have had a substantial presence at the DoD Systems and Software Technology Conferences. We all wondered why they were able to attend. Maybe a polite and gracious thanks but no thanks would be in order for these very polite individuals for future conferences. Normal Americans not DoD related can't attend. Why are we allowing the Chinese to attend?
Neil W | Wednesday, September 5, 2007 | 10:11 AMThe Chineese have, for whatever reason, indicated their view of the effectiveness of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons.
David Wehrly | Tuesday, September 4, 2007 | 1:41 PM