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Speaking at a news conference at the National Defense University in Washington, DC, Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III acknowledged that the connection of cyberspace to the military’s mission to protect the security of the nation is ambiguous.

“We do not know the exact way in which cyber will figure in the execution of this mission, or the precise scenarios that will arise,” he said in a prepared statement. “But the centrality of information technology to our military operations and our society virtually guarantees that future adversaries will target our dependence on it.”

“Our assessment is that cyber attacks will be a significant component of any future conflict, whether it involves major nations, rogue states or terrorist groups,” he added.

“[W]e stand at an important juncture in the development of the cyber threat,” he warned. “More destructive tools are being developed, but have not yet been widely used. And the most malicious actors have not yet obtained the most harmful capabilities.”

“But this situation will not hold forever,” he continued. “There will eventually be a marriage of capability and intent, where those who mean us harm will gain the ability to launch damaging cyber attacks.  We need to develop stronger defenses before this occurs.  We have a window of opportunity — of uncertain length — in which to protect our networks against more perilous threats.”

Lynn reiterated the Pentagon’s position aired in recent weeks about kinetic retaliation for virtual acts. “Just as our military organizes to defend against hostile acts from land, air and sea, we must also be prepared to respond to hostile acts in cyberspace,” he declared. “Accordingly, the United States reserves the right, under the laws of armed conflict, to respond to serious cyber attacks with a proportional and justified military response at the time and place of our choosing.”

Five “pillars” underlie the department’s cyberspace strategy.

• Cyberspace will be treated as an operational domain — like land, air, sea and space. Treating cyberspace as a domain means that the military needs to operate and defend its networks, and to organize, train and equip our forces to perform cyber missions.
• New operating concepts will be introduced on the department’s networks, including active cyber defenses.  These active defenses use sensors, software and signatures to detect and stop malicious code before it affects our operations—thereby denying the benefit of an attack.
• Cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security and the private sector to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure.
• Build collective cyber defenses with allies and international partners. Collective cyber defenses will help expand our awareness of malicious activity and speed our ability to defend against ongoing attacks.
• Enhance network security to reduce the advantages the attacker presently enjoys relative to the defender on the Internet.  Leveraging the nation’s technological and human resources to increase the security of network technology is not only in our best interest, Lynn said.  A more secure and resilient internet is in everyone’s interest.

Full article by John P. Mello, Jr., GSN

The group said it had targeted the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) “because we are against SB1070 and the racial profiling anti-immigration police state that is Arizona.” The release was posted June 3 under the epithet laced heading “Chinga la Migra.” AZDPS’ Website appeared to be down on the morning of June 24.

The group breached an FBI-related Website on June 3 and uploaded some confidential information to the Internet. The group proclaimed the attack on the site affiliated with the FBI’s InfraGard program was in retaliation for the United States threatening to respond to severe cyber attacks with military force.

In the breach at AZDPS, the group said it was releasing hundreds of internal intelligence bulletins, training manuals, personal email correspondence, names, phone numbers, addresses and passwords that belong to Arizona law enforcement. 

It said the documents are classified as “law enforcement sensitive”, “not for public distribution”, and “for official use only” are primarily related to border  patrol and counter-terrorism operations and describe the use of informants to infiltrate various gangs, cartels, motorcycle clubs, Nazi groups, and protest movements.

The documents listed on the group’s website purport to include personal addresses for highway patrol officers, email passwords and security briefings. Some documents appear to be security briefings and alerts that would go out to many law enforcement agencies, including advisories about particular weapons threats, gang infiltration of police and mundane security advisories on local entertainment events, and borderland hunting season notifications.

The bill the group opposes, SB 1070 has been called the strictest and broadest anti-illegal immigration bill in the country. It would make it a misdemeanor for an alien to be in the state without carrying federal registration documents. It also blocks state or local officials from restricting enforcement of federal immigration laws and cracks down on sheltering and hiring of illegal aliens.

Full article by Mark Rockwell, GSN

The Homeland Security appropriations bill (H.R. 2017) passed the House late on June 2 by a vote of 231 to 188, with 127 House Republicans voting against the cost-cutting bill. Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-NY) and ranking member Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) both voted against it. Thompson lamented arbitrary reductions and partisanship.

King had voted for an additional $75 million for rail security to be included. He has repeatedly said rail security around major urban areas needs shoring up. He also voted to restore $320 million in firefighter grants and questioned further cuts to infrastructure protection given that it is a proven target for Al Qaeda.

In a statement on June 2 after the bill’s passage, Thompson said he had grave concerns about the cuts and overall approach by the House to homeland security issues. Homeland security has largely been left untouched in the past as Congress sought to expand protections and budget for programs. However, as the federal budget tightened this past winter and spring, homeland security became a target for big reductions.

“This bill is simply an assault against the progress we’ve made protecting the homeland over the past ten years,” said Thompson in a statement. King hadn’t issued a statement on his reaction to the passage by the morning of June 3.

“I voted against this bill because not only did it arbitrarily cut the DHS budget, but it ignores gaps in preparedness grants for first responders and counterterrorism initiatives,” said Thompson.

Thompson further criticized the measure for preventing collective bargaining at the Transportation Security Administration, something TSA employees have been seeking. TSA Administrator John Pistole agreed to allow collective bargaining last February and two labor organizations are jockeying to represent TSA employees.

“Furthering the Republican anti-worker political agenda, this bill prevents TSA screeners from collective bargaining rights and calls for the elimination of up to 8,000 critical jobs,” said Thompson.

Full article by Mark Rockwell, GSN

The bills, H.R. 1690, H.R. 1801 and H.R. 1165 will streamline and expedite security screening processes for truckers and military personnel, as well as establish a workplace ombudsman for Transportation Security Administration employees, according to Transportation Security Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL).

The bills now go to the full Homeland Security Committee for consideration.

H.R. 1690, or the “Modernizing of Documentation and Elimination of Redundant Identification and Security Credentials Act” (The MODERN Security Credentials Act), eliminates redundancies in the transportation security credentialing process administered by the TSA, said Rogers. 

The measure would reduce costs for some commercial motor vehicle operators by streamlining the credentialing process so that they will no longer be required to undergo multiple, duplicative threat assessments and by eliminating redundancies and overlap between the federal credentialing process and those at the state and local levels, he said. “This bill would reduce costs for hard-working folks in the transportation industry,” he said in remarks during a subcommittee May 12 mark-up session. The bill also establishes a task force of industry, labor and government stakeholders to provide recommendations for further modernizing the threat assessment process, he said.

The subcommittee also approved H.R. 1801, the “Risk-Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act,” which would expedite airport security screenings for members of the U.S. military and their accompanying family members. The bill was introduced by Subcommittee Member Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN) and co-sponsored by Rogers.

The subcommittee also passed H.R. 1165, The “Transportation Security Administration Ombudsman Act of 2011,” which officially establishes an Ombudsman Office within the TSA to provide help for TSA employees in addressing workplace-related issues. The bill was introduced by Subcommittee Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX).

Full article by Mark Rockwell, GSN

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced $25.5 million in grant funding under the Border Interoperability Demonstration Project (BIDP) on May 2. The BIDP, said DHS, is a one-time competitive grant program focused on developing innovative solutions to strengthen interoperable emergency communications along the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico.

Funding under the BIDP can be used for equipment purchases, planning, training and conducting exercises. The demonstration projects selected represent varying geographic regions and population densities in order to explore innovative approaches that can serve as models for other communities located along the borders with Canada and Mexico.

The grants went to fund a variety of projects in seven states along the northern and southern border. The City of Yuma, AZ received $3,994,443 for the Yuma Full Voice and Data Integration Demonstration Project. San Diego (CA) Fire-Rescue received $3,852,580 for its Regional Command and Control Communications Tactical Border Communications Project.

Washington County, ME got $3,963,163 for its Enhanced Communications Infrastructure and Partnerships for Border Security Project, while Wayne County, MI will use $4,000,000 for its Southeast Michigan Border Interoperability Solution Project.

Interoperability Montana will use $3,895,425 for the Northern Tier Consortium Border Interoperability Demonstration Project. Lake County, OH received $3,998,200 for the Multi-Agency, Multi-Jurisdictional U.S. Regional & International Interoperable Communications Infrastructure and Maritime Domain Awareness Project.

The City of McAllen, TX will use $1,940,000 for the Rio Grande Valley Border Interoperability Regional Project.

Full article by Mark Rockwell, GSN

The program, called the Borders High Level Model (HLM), uses a gaming platform called Ground Truth, a force-on-force battle simulation tool called Dante™, and the work of several collaborating organizations, according to Sandia.

“There’s a lot of debate going on in the government concerning the technology and infrastructure investments that need to be made along the border,” explained Jason Reinhardt, who serves as the Borders HLM project manager at Sandia. “How much fence do we need? What kind of fence? What is the right mix of border personnel and technology? How can sensors, vehicles and other technical equipment most effectively be used? With Borders HLM, CBP officials can simulate their defensive architectures, accurately measure their performance and start to answer these difficult questions.”

Ground Truth, initially funded through internal Sandia investments in 2007, is a gaming platform originally designed to prepare decision makers and first responders for weapons of mass destruction/weapons of mass effect (WMD/WME) attacks in metropolitan areas, according to Sandia. Developed by Sandia computer scientist and Borders HLM principal investigator Donna Djordjevich, the software provides a virtual environment where users can play through various scenarios to see the effects of their decisions under the constraints of time and resources, it said.

For the Borders HLM project, Ground Truth software was integrated into bottom-projected touch surface table, according to Sandia. Users can see “people” moving across the border terrain projected on the gaming surface, observe CBP “personnel” respond to incidents and essentially control those movements and “apprehend” suspects, it said. Users can also view a leader board of sorts that shows how many suspects have been apprehended, the dollar amount spent implementing the chosen architecture and other metrics that matter to CBP decision-makers, it said.

Dante, also part of the Borders HLM platform, is a force-on-force battle simulation tool built on the well-known Umbra simulation framework developed and introduced in 2001 by Sandia researchers, according to the lab.

With additional funding and the right kind of collaborations, Djordjevich said, more robust features could be added to make the program more valuable to CBP and other potential customers. The current version, for instance, only deals with individual border crossers, so it doesn’t capture crowd behaviors. Other sensor types, such as radiation detectors or even airborne equipment, could also be added, according to the lab.

Reinhardt said the future of the Borders HLM tool will likely depend on the direction in which CBP chooses to go with its border operations. “Our high-level models tool will likely change the way CBP conducts its business, and it will probably have a real long-term impact on how large expenditures are justified or reputed on and around the nation’s borders.”

Full article by Mark Rockwell, GSN

An announcement posted on March 7 on DHS’s Web blog, said the agency is starting a new program that invites top executive-level talent from the private sector to work at DHS in its “Loaned Executive Program.” It is initially looking for a cyber security advisor and a strategic planning advisor under the program.

“We’re looking to our nation’s top executives to partner with us as we strive to solve problems, improve processes, and fully realize our mission,” it said. Most of the positions DHS is looking to fill would be short-term-initially six months with option for another six month rotation, according to DHS. The positions would be unpaid, with loaned executives drawing their regular salary and benefits from their private-sector jobs, it said. DHS said “by serving as a loaned executive, executives will have an opportunity to make a difference in securing our nation.”

DHS has been hungry for private sector expertise. At a March 1 conference in Washington marking the eighth anniversary of the agency, former DHS Secretary Tom Ridge drew applause from the audience, which included Congressmen and other Washington officials, when he called for a loosening of restrictions that reins in government from working with private industry experts on technology. “Congress should look at changing the rules on bringing in private citizens to sit with government” to help solve technological problems. “It’s very difficult” to do that now, he said. “It’s about time we recognized the wealth of private sector experience should be brought in,” he said.

DHS initially wants to draw a senior advisor for strategy development and implementation in the Department’s Office of Strategic Plans. The loaned executive will advise on the department’s strategic direction and examine the long-term impact of evolving threats, challenges and trends, said the agency.

It also wants a senior advisor for Cyber security and communications integration planning to work in the Department’s Office of Cybersecurity and Communications. The executive would help evaluate the National Cyber security and Communications Integration Center’s capabilities and refine the department’s Cyber security strategy, according to DHS.

Full article by Mark Rockwell, GSN Magazine

The White House noted the FY 2012 figures for DHS are a modest increase of $309 million above 2010 levels.

Overall funding levels for DHS and its agencies in the proposed budget remained relatively even, with some slight declines in some areas and slight increases for some of the larger agencies within the department compared to actual 2010 levels.

For instance, the President proposed $10.3 billion in FY 2012 for Customs and Border Protection, up from $10.1 billion in 2010. The administration seeks $5.1 billion for the Transportation Security Administration’s 2012 budget, down from $5.5 billion in 2010. It budgeted Immigration and Customs Enforcement at $5.49 billion, compared to $5.44 billion in 2010, while DHS’s office of science and technology was budgeted at $1.1 billion for FY 2012, up from the $999 million in 2010.

The President increased core homeland security functions like border security and Coast Guard assets. The budget document said those savings were achieved by eliminating stove-piped and duplicative state and local grant programs, administrative costs and professional contractors.

Local first responders would get billions in support under the proposal. The budget provides $3.8 billion for state and local grants to support capability enhancements for the first responder and emergency management communities

The Transportation Security Administration would get $82 million to support deployment of up to 1,275 Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) screening machines at airport checkpoints by the end of 2012. The money includes funding for an additional 275 new AIT machines.

Additionally, $273 million would go to support recapitalization and deployment of new explosives detection systems in the nation’s airports. The administration also wants $58 million for the continued modernization and streamlining of transportation security vetting and credentialing to reduce redundant TSA processes and systems.

The budget also supports 300 additional border patrol agents for passenger and cargo screening, bringing the total to 21,370 agents at CBP. It also calls for $132 million to expand and enhance the E-verify immigration verification program and $20 million to promote citizenship through education and preparation programs.

An additional $358 million is requested for six additional Coast Guard fast response cutters and $130 million for two additional maritime patrol aircraft.

The President wants $242 million to acquire “optimum” security technologies for three sectors in Arizona. The technology initiative, said the document, will be targeted at the unique needs of each border region, instead of “the prior, one-size-fits-all approach—and will result in the faster deployment of security technology, better overall coverage for situational awareness and agent protection, and ultimately a more effective and efficient deployment strategy.” An assessment of the technological needs of the remainder of the southwest border sections will be completed in 2011, but “will inform future resource needs,” it said.

Full article by Mark Rockwell, GSN Magazine

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