14 DAY TRIAL // US Army representatives are confident they will soon be requested to engage in cyber warfare even though this is mainly the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
"I think the threat [of cyber-attacks] is very real and could potentially be very near-term," revealed Brig. Gen. John Davis, U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade, Md.
Their greatest fear is that the army's computer networks might be exposed due to the fact that their resources are stored on commercial infrastructures.
"But 90 percent of the military networks reside and ride on commercial infrastructure, so we're concerned about what [an adversary's] cyber activity could do to that commercial infrastructure, because it can have an adverse impact on the military's ability to do its job," Davis said.
To make sure they're not caught off guard, military specialists recently came together to participate at Unified Quest 2012 seminars where these critical issues were debated and examined.
"This is the beginning of our campaign of learning for fiscal year 2012," revealed Lt. Gen. Keith C. Walker, deputy commanding general, futures, and director of Army capabilities integration.
"We're going to use what we learn in this session on alternative futures to set the conditions for further seminar war games and experiments."
One of the most important conclusions that were drawn was the fact that a country's power will be mainly determined by its capacity to fight virtual battles. What once was seen as only a “supporting function” will soon make the difference between success and failure.
"The Defense Department has recently transformed the way we look at this and has declared cyber an operational domain in its own right ... a domain that every other traditional war fighting domain relies on," Davis added.
"What I'm trying to do is scare you even more than working group 1 did. I'm not looking at 2028. I'm looking at the next 18 months."