US Cyber Attack Defences To Be Automated

The US military is set to automate its computer defences to compensate for a lack of security experts.

Brigadier General Charles Shugg, deputy commander of the 24th Air Force, the US military organisation responsible for cyber security, said the military is "working to address the demand for cyber operators by automating some of what they do."

Speaking to Computer Weekly, Shugg said that a staffing limitation imposed by the US Department of Defense and the long lead-time involved in specialist training has resulted in a shortage of cyber warfare operators.

The solution, Shugg said, is to introduce a new generation of automated defences including backup circuits, situational awareness systems, networks sensors and patch management systems. He said the aim was to "enable us to pinpoint malicious activity without relying on manually-intensive processes".

Cyber warfare command

An increasing awareness of cyber security issues has resulted in more emphasis being placed on countering the various cyber attack threats. In the US, this resulted in the activation in 2009 of the 24th Air Force and the Joint Warfighter cyber warfare command control centre at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

One requirement is a need to expand the number of specialist personnel trained to deal with cyber attacks _ the US Air Force has reportedly only filled a third of the 400 posts allocated for the Lackland command and control centre. However, with DoD staffing limitations and the length of time it takes to train specialist personnel there is no option but to invest in creating effective automated systems.

Source _ Security International's US Correspondent

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