In recent years, military experts have harped on the idea that cyberspace will be the battlefield of the future, and the United States military is getting more aggressive about training soldiers that can fight there. In June, six airmen graduated from the Air Force Weapon School, that branch’s equivalent to the Navy’s famous “Top Gun” program, with specialized expertise in cyber warfare. According to The Wall Street Journal, the new Air Force program is part of a larger push by the Obama administration to beef up America’s capabilities to defend its networks as well as launch cyberattacks. The Air Force alone spends $4 billion a year on cyberdefense and cyberoffense.In a matter of speaking, the U.S. approach to cyber warfare has evolved considerably. Just two years ago, experts warned that America was not ready to defend itself from a cyberattack. It was only a couple of months later that the U.S. and Israel reportedly launched the Stuxnet attack on nuclear facilities in Iran. This was the first time that the U.S. used a cyberweapon to cripple a foreign country’s infrastructure, although the government has yet to admit that they were behind the attack. Indeed, they’ve kept pretty quiet about the topic in general and as recently as last year stopped short of admitting that they maintained offensive cyber capabilities.Lately, however, the Pentagon is being a bit more vocal about its preparing for cyber warfare. Earlier this summer, officials at DARPA began boasting about a cyberoffense program codenamed “Plan X.” With a budget of $1.54 million, the program aims to map out a digital battlefield that would keep track of potential threats in cyberspace and also help commanders carry out attacks. Acting DARPA director Kaigham J. Gabriel and other officials spoke openly to The Washington Post about the program, and while they didn’t reveal too many specifics about how it worked, they made it very clear that they were preparing to mount offensive attacks.The PR effort around the new crew of Air Force Weapons School graduates was no different. The point, says former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James Cartwright, is to let countries like China and Russia know that we’re ramping up our efforts. “For cyber deterrence to work,” Cartwright told The Journal, “you have to believe a few things: One, that we have the intent; two, that we have the capability; and three, that we practice — and people know that we
practice.”
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practice.”