official at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada know for two weeks about avirusinfecting the drone “ cockpit ” there . But they kept the information about the transmission to themselves – leaving the unit of measurement that ’s supposed to do as the Air Force ’s cybersecurity specialist in the darkness . The meshing defenders at the 24th Air Force learned of the virus by reading about it in Danger Room .
The virus , whichrecords the keystrokes of distant pilots as their drones fly over place like Afghanistan , is now receive attention at the highest story ; thefour - wiz generalwho oversees the Air Force ’s networks was briefed on the infection this morning . But for workweek , it stayed ( you will pardon the manifestation ) below the radio detection and ranging : a local problem that local web administrators were determined to fix on their own .
“ It was not spotlight to us , ” tell a source involve with Air Force web operations . “ When your clause come in out , it was like , ‘ What is this ? ' ”
The drones are still fly over warzones from Afghanistan to Pakistan to Yemen . There ’s no sign of the zodiac , yet , that the virus either damaged any of the systems associate with the remotely piloted aircraft or transmitted sensitive data outside the military chain of command – although three military insiders monish that a full - blown , high - layer investigation into the virus is only now getting underway .
Nevertheless , the virus has sparked a bit of a firestorm in military circles . Not only were officials in charge kept out of the grommet about an infection in America ’s weapon and surveillance organisation of pick , but the surprise surrounding that infection play up a fault in the way the U.S. military machine secure its information base : There ’s no one in the Defense Department with his mitt on the web switch . In fact , there is no one switch to verbalize of .
The four branch of the U.S. armed force each has a dedicated unit of measurement that , in possibility , is supposed to handle cyber defence for the entire service . The twenty-fourth Air Force , for example , “ is the operational warfighting organisation thatestablishes , operates , maintains and defends Air Force web , ” according to a military fact sheet . These units are then supposed to provide personnel department and info toU.S. Cyber Command , which is supposed to supervise the military machine ’s overall web defence .
In drill , it ’s not that simple . Unlike most large private enterprises , the 24th does n’t have a centralized system for managing and supervise its internet . There ’s no place at the 24th ’s San Antonio home office where someone could see all the digital traffic hurtle through the Robert William Service ’s pipes . In fact , most of the major commands within the Air Force do n’t have formalagreementsto hold the other ’s connection dealings . ( The twenty-fourth Air Force did not immediately respond to requests to gloss for this article . )
“ We ’d never managed the entire Air Force internet as a single enterprise , ” Vince Ross , the computer programme manager of the Air Force Electronic Systems Center ’s Cyber Integration Division , said in March . “ That meant there was no centralized direction of the connection , that scheme and hardware were n’t standardise , and that top - tier commander did n’t have complete situational cognisance . ”
The program is to one twenty-four hours mix all that substructure into asingle Air Force connection . But for now , it ’s largely cybersecurity by the honor system of rules . Each base and each unit in the Air Force has its own geek squad . They only call for aid if there ’s a wide electronic internet job , or if they ’re truly stumped .
That did n’t happen when a so - yell “ keylogger ” computer virus hit Creech more than two week ago .
“ Nothing was ever reported anywhere . They just did n’t think it was important enough , ” says a 2d source involved with operate the Air Force ’s networks . “ The motivator to share failing is just not there . ”
Not even when that helplessness hits the robotic weapons that have become the mainstay for American military operations around the major planet .
Photo : USAF
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