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SAN DIEGO - The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) announced the formation of a Cyber Readiness Team (CRT) during the C4ISR Symposium, April 24 in San Diego. Leadership from SPAWAR's Fleet Readiness Directorate (FRD) said the CRT will address many of the fleet's key cyber security issues.
“There are a range of things we are doing to improve fleet readiness, especially in regards to cyber,” said Capt. John Robey, FRD program manager. “We provide teams of folks to go out for cyber security inspections (CSI) to help get them ready. The mantra we operate under at the FRD is that we are the face to the fleet; if you have questions, call us.”
Robey and Rob Wolborsky, FRD executive director, joined Capt. David Wirth, director communications and information systems at Commander, Third Fleet (N6) and Capt. Jose Cisneros, director communications and information systems at Commander Naval Air Forces (AIRPAC) N6, during a panel session to discuss improving tools and strengthening the fleet’s cyber readiness posture.
Standing up the SPAWAR CRT will help address some of the major issues facing today’s warfighter.
“The majority of the stuff causing ships to fail inspections at an alarming rate is the old systems, or legacy capabilities, out there that aren’t secure,” said Wolborsky. “They aren’t secure by the standards of the testers. These testers test the systems to a certain level, as they should, because if we are ever in harm’s way, we need to be able to defend our warfighters.”
The problem, according to Wolborsky, is exacerbated because of outdated software and systems still in use around the fleet.
“Many of the afloat systems have not been as successful passing cyber inspections,” said Robey. “The afloat is harder because of more variation and differences in configurations. We are focusing our energies this year on helping them pass these inspections.”
Afloat CSI is a much bigger hill to climb and a much bigger challenge. Embedding cyber security into software, systems and programs is imperative to warfighter effectiveness and adheres to SPAWAR’s core mission. The CRT, which is similar to an integrated process team and includes FRD, program offices and SPAWAR engineering and corporate operations, will collaborate to improve daily readiness and help mature tools so that the fleet can keep up with emerging requirements.
The FRD exists to support the fleet’s immediate and future C4ISR readiness and includes installation management and execution, fleet support, data center consolidation and cyber.
“We’re very much aligned and getting laser-focused to address the cyber issue,” said Wolborsky, “I put everything into three basic areas in what we are trying to accomplish here. Those three areas include delivering ships out of their availability to the warfighter that are fully functional; making equipment more secure in light of all the legacy systems that are out there and at the root of the problem; and ensuring crews are proficient.”
According to the fleet waterfront participants, cyber security inspections have become the ends rather than the means.
“What we are seeing is our inability to sustain the level of effort required to meet inspection requirements,” said Wirth. “What the fleet really needs is the ability to sustain a consistent level of readiness. Right now, it’s like building a house and working down to the foundation.”
The SPAWAR CRT will leverage organizational expertise and work with industry partners to create processes to ensure a stronger cyber posture across the fleet. Navy lags behind many major private IT industry companies in keeping its systems secure and safe in a growing non-kinetic environment in which networks have become the new battlefield.
Layers of bureaucracy are hampering the Navy’s best effort to stay ahead of the curve. Without money, fleet forces cannot keep pace. The CRT is designed to help rather than hinder an already layered process.
“We need to look at investing money in IT training for our sailors,” said Cisneros. “We don’t have the embedded support we need either. We need to take a look at how we are addressing those problems, too.”
The CRT is a new concept developed to help better understanding the existing information out there in order to make the best decisions for the various fleet software baselines. The initial task will be to determine what the problems are and develop the right tools to address them. It is a major step in the right direction for addressing fleet concerns. The goal is to help FRD determine what to deliver to the fleet, ensure it is not causing additional problems, and work proactively with the fleet to improve its cyber posture from a technical authority and acquisition capability delivery perspective.
As the Navy's Information Dominance systems command, SPAWAR designs, develops and deploys advanced communications and information capabilities for the warfighter. With nearly 10,000 acquisition professionals located around the world and close to the fleet, the organization is at the forefront of research, engineering and support services that provide vital decision superiority for the warfighter.
For more information on SPAWAR, visit:
http://www.public.navy.mil/spawar/Pages/default.aspx, http://www.facebook.com/spaceandnavalwarfaresystemscommand, http://twitter.com/SPAWARHQ, http://www.flickr.com/photos/teamspawar/
For more news from SPAWAR visit http://www.navy.mil/local/spawar/.
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 04.25.2014 16:36 |
| Story ID: | 127672 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 172 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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