Dear Mr. President, You promised that our mili
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You promised that our military would have the best cyber defensive and offensive capability. I regret to say that it still isn’t so. Your vision has yet to be enacted by the DOD procurement cycle.
My senator, Angus King, stated “The next Pearl Harbor will be cyber and we are already under attack!” He’s right. As a retired military intelligence officer and former HQ/EUCOM member, it was with increased alarm that I read the 10/5/17 WSJ article titled “Russia targets NATO soldiers’ smartphones.” This threat has grown dramatically since EUCOM’s Lt/Gen Ben Hodges AFN interview during FX Anaconda in Poland. In that June 2016 interview he stated “Neither (U) radio communications nor e-mails are secure. I assume everything I write on my Blackberry is being monitored.” On 2/23/17 the BBC reported the initial Russian cyber-attack on General Hodges’ troops, then being deployed to bolster East European NATO allies. On 10/5/17 The WSJ published an article titled “Russia targets NATO soldiers’ smartphones.” This article stated that GRU hacking has become pervasive and has penetrated into the smartphones of all ranks. This now provides the Russian military a goldmine of information! This COMSEC problem can become an OPSEC one with dire consequences in the near future by helping enable enemy targeteers to put guided munitions on American targets and troops, as I did to our country’s enemies as an Air Force targets intelligence officer.
As you are aware, our military is switching from Androids to Chinese made I-phones. These issue I-phones have inadequate protection against cyber-attack and exploitation by hostile intelligence services, exposing our troops to be found, targeted and killed, preventing mission success.
Please consider getting our troops something to fix this tremendous COMSEC problem. At this point they need anything better than the standard consumer encryption Apple provides its I-Phones. It is nowhere near the level of protection they need!
To date no defensive software has been provided our troops for their (U) mobile devices even though the DOD/CIO, US Cyber Command and DISA have tested and evaluated several vendors’ potential solutions such as MFA/OOBA and encryption. If I can be of any further service to you, or our country, in this matter please don’t hesitate to e-mail, call or mail me at: personal contact info withheld.
I remain your officer,
4sleddogs
Major USAF Retired
This letter to be sent to the Commander In Chief today. If you feel the same way I do about this issue please consider writing the WH