Anyone on the Internet is vulnerable to cyber attack, but the government has yet to identify the red lines that constitute an act of war, according to the deputy director of the U.S. National Security Agency. In addition, a new report shows most young people haven’t received any specialized cybersecurity education, and are unaware of the responsibilities included in a cybersecurity career.
Military Training Often a Great Preparation for a Cyber Career
Job hunt: targeted military experience. Contributor Ron Kness writes, “Some systems in used cybersecurity are more closely aligned with the military intelligence community. Training on security information, event management and the ability to track down persistent threats are better found in intelligence than in IT. If you did supervisory intel analyst work in the military, you may already have training and experience needed for doing these tasks.” See also, “Getting a Job Just Got Harder.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
South China Sea tensions. Reuters’ Andrea Shalal and Ben Blanchard report, “A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed close to China’s man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday, drawing an angry rebuke from Beijing, which said it warned and followed the American vessel. The patrol by the USS Lassen was the most significant U.S. challenge yet to the 12-nautical-mile territorial limits China asserts around the islands in the Spratly archipelago and could ratchet up tension in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.”
Back to Iraq. The Hill’s Kristina Wong reports, “Top leaders at the Pentagon are considering a range of options to bolster the military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), including embedding some U.S. troops with Iraqi forces . . . . U.S. military commanders have forwarded several options to the Defense Department in the last few weeks . . . as part of a mounting push within the administration to more aggressively target the terrorist group.”
Shabaab resists ISIS. The Long War Journal’s Thomas Joscelyn reports, “The Islamic State has made a big push to win the loyalty of Shabaab, al Qaeda’s official branch in East Africa, and fighters in its ranks. For months, Islamic State boosters on social media have predicted Shabaab’s imminent defection. . . . Thus far, however, the Islamic State’s anti-al Qaeda push in East Africa has had little success.”
what’s missing in cybersecurity? Good people
Nation-state cyberattacks. BBC’s Gordon Corera reports, “The deputy director of the US National Security Agency (NSA), Richard Ledgett, has warned of the increasing danger of destructive cyber attacks by states. He told the BBC: ‘If you are connected to the internet, you are vulnerable to determined nation-state attackers.’ He said nations would need to identify red lines that should not be crossed.”
Cyber-people shortage. Nextgov’s Jack Moore reports, “Reports have warned for years of a critical gap of cybersecurity talent in the federal government. . . . However, a new survey reveals the majority of millennials across the globe haven’t received any specialized cybersecurity education and aren’t entirely sure of the typical range of responsibilities involved in a cyber career.”
History of hacking. Wired’s Kim Zetter reports, “In the interest of tracking how the [Computer Fraud and Abuse Act] has been used, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most bizarre and controversial cases prosecuted under it. With most of these examples, how the government used the CFAA was often as much on trial as the defendants who were charged.”
