Fairfax, VA, June 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Staying ahead of cyberthreats in a time of constricting budgets is a major challenge for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) today. To confront this quagmire, the agency’s officials are open to the private sector’s newest ideas and innovative technologies—even those that aren’t fully developed. Everything from software-based systems that create virtual hardware across networks to exotic communications links that provide large increases in bandwidth throughout the battlespace are potential prospects.
In the lead article of this month’s SIGNAL Magazine, Lt. Gen. Alan R. Lynn, USA, says any solutions that industry can come up with to help stay ahead of cyber adversaries “would really be of interest” to both DISA and Joint Force Headquarters, Department of Defense Information Network (JFHQ-DODIN). Gen. Lynn leads both organizations.
“The cyber battlefield is growing, it’s unending and it’s 24/7, and we have to keep a constant eye on it, and any tools that industry can bring, we’re interested in,” the general says. “If there is some technology that would allow us to provide more bandwidth, more capability, we’re interested in that as well.”
The biggest change afoot is the development of a multiprotocol label switching system to upgrade bandwidth capacity, he offers. On the security front, the agency is developing a multifactor authentication that would succeed the current common access card, or CAC, which uses two-factor authentication. The new system will employ behavioral analysis and biometrics to ensure that the identity of the person using the network is verified. This probably would feature “patterns of life,” in which a person’s actions are compared to their established habits, Gen. Lynn relates.
Although DISA builds the networks, JFHQ-DODIN defends them and Gen. Lynn leads both, the general maintains a degree of separation between the two functions to avoid one activity inhibiting the other. “The tendency in the cyber world is to try to lock down the network as much as possible,” he observes. “The build side of the house is to provide as much throughput, traffic and information as we can possibly make flow correctly. That’s an interesting balance.”
Gen. Lynn does not want the users to be concerned about outages or intrusions. “I don’t want them to have to worry about a fiber cut in Djibouti—the guys building the network need to worry about that,” he states. “I want the cyber guys fully focused on the enemy, and the enemy is ubiquitous. They are all over the place trying to get in, and we are doing a tremendous job of blocking them every step of the way.”
Read the full article online .
SIGNAL Magazine's June issue also includes a look how cyber hunters have evolved and acquisition reform as well as the DISA 2017 Contract Guide .
DISA leaders are preparing to share an extensive view of the challenges the agency faces and how industry can solve them at AFCEA International’s Defensive Cyber Operations Symposium , which takes place June 13-15 at the Baltimore Convention Center. Additional information is available online and follow the symposium on Twitter #AFCEACyber.
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Attachments:
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/Attachm...a24a8b217f
Maryann Lawlor AFCEA International (703) 631-6179 mlawlor@afcea.org
