A few years ago I read an article in Popular Science that discussed the creation of a team within the military devoted to guarding against and responding to cyber attacks. At the time, we were just starting to see intrusions and data breaches so sophisticated that there was a lot of talk about state-sponsored hacking similar to state-sponsored terrorism. What really caught my attention in the article was that protection and detection weren't the only focus; countermeasures and response tactics were being hinted at.
Well, according to a recent article on The Register, the U.S. Air Force has a new Cyber Command which is scheduled to be operational in October and they've just released their strategic vision for the new unit:
"Controlling cyberspace is the prerequisite to effective operations across all strategic and operational domains--securing freedom from attack and freedom to attack. We will develop and implement plans for maturing and expanding cyberspace operations as an Air Force core competency. We will provide decision makers with flexible options to deter, deny, disrupt, deceive, dissuade, and defeat adversaries through a variety of destructive and non-destructive, and lethal and non-lethal means. Finally, we will do this in friendly cooperation with our professional partners and teammates in other major commands, Services, combatant commands, and U.S. government agencies."
From what I understand, this function isn't new for the Air Force, but rather than focusing on defense of the network, it sounds like there may be tactical offensive measures available to this unit. In light of recent intrusions on government systems that have been traced to the Chinese government, I think this new mission for the military has been a long-time coming.
So, if you have a knack for IT security and were ever interested in working for the military, but didn't want lead being slung at you on a regular basis, this might be good place for you.
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