14 DAY TRIAL // The US is answering the recent increase in cyber-espionage and state-sponsored threats by making sure its critical infrastructure is not left unprotected.
After reaching an out-of-court settlement with two companies that outsourced critical defense software to Russian programmers, now the US government has decided to increase the pay for its US Air Force military personnel working in cyber-defense jobs.
According to AirForce Times, US Air Force officials have announced this change at the end of October, but only recently released the actual numbers.
US Air Force cyber defense operators are getting a small raise
Starting with October 1, for the first time, the US Air Force personnel working in cyber operations, in the 1B4X1 career field, will receive extra pay.
Airmen will receive an extra of $150 if they have been on the job for more than six months, and an extra pay of $225 if on the job for more than 12 months.
This extra pay is added to their normal enlisted pay rates which every US military employee is getting.
The US is bolstering its cyber-defenses, in spite of the US-China anti-hacking pact
"We use this program to ensure the Air Force is attracting the right people for these high-demand specialties and appropriately compensate them based on the complexity, difficulty and degree of responsibility required of their duties,” said Brig. Gen. Brian Kelly, director of Military Force Management Policy.
In spite of the US-China hacking agreement, attacks coming from Chinese threat actors have not stopped. Taking into account that China has recently decided to unify its cyber-units under one single command, the US-China anti-hacking pact seems just a regular piece of paper right now, with none of the two countries acting like there's an actual truce between them.
At the end of September, the US Air Force also disclosed plans of creating a special plane for hacking remote locations unreachable via the Internet.