The Voice of Military Communications and Computing
Information Dominator Lt. Gen. Michael J. Basla Chief, Information Dominance Chief Information Officer Air Force
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Volume 16, Issue 7
Network Integration Evaluation O Cyber-Situational Awareness Bring Your Own Device O Comsatcom Center Update
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Military Information Technology
August 2012 Volume 16 • Issue 7
Features
Cover / Q&A “Bring Your Own” Dilemma
Like many large organizations today that are uncertain about how to handle the booming popularity of employee-owned smartphones and other personal electronic devices in the workplace, the Army and other services are eyeing the possible benefits and risks of “bring your own device” policies. By Karen E. Thuermer
4
Cyber-Situational Awareness
The military and industry are stepping up efforts to enhance decision making by having greater visibility and awareness of the cyber-domain. By Peter Buxbaum
7 COMSATCOM Center Update
An update on the latest news from the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Commercial Satellite Communications (COMSATCOM) Center.
12
Special Report: NIE 12.2 NIEs Guide Army Tactical Comms
21
Following a massive field exercise that proved the network’s strength as a combat enabler, the Army is on the brink of fielding its new tactical communications network to up to eight brigade combat teams. By Claire Heininger Schwerin
On-the-Move Transformation
23
An initial operational test of the Warfighter Information NetworkTactical Increment 2 highlighted the ability to push and pull large files and big pieces of data to mobile units in the field. By Amy Walker
16 Lieutenant General Michael J. Basla Chief, Information Dominance Chief Information Officer U.S. Air Force
Departments 2
Editor’s Perspective
3
Program Notes/People
14
Data Bytes
26
COTSacopia
27
Resource Center
Command Posts for Companies
An interview with Major Brian Mack, the Network Integration Evaluation 12.2 Company Command Post trail boss for Product Manager for Command Post Systems and Integration.
25
Industry Interview
28 Tim Collins Federal Sales Director Panasonic for Government
Military Information Technology Volume 16, Issue 7 • August 2012
The Voice of Military Communications and Computing Editorial Managing Editor Harrison Donnelly harrisond@kmimediagroup.com Online Editorial Manager Laura Davis laurad@kmimediagroup.com Copy Editor Laural Hobbes lauralh@kmimediagroup.com Correspondents Adam Baddeley • Peter Buxbaum Cheryl Gerber • Karen E. Thuermer
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EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE In addition to laying out the Department of Defense’s long-term approach to the migration to cloud computing, Chief Information Officer Teri Takai’s new cloud strategy document thrusts the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) into a vital new role. The strategy, released in July, seeks to move the department’s current network applications from a duplicative, cumbersome and costly set of application silos to a more agile, secure and cost-effective service environment. In addition, it names DISA as the enterprise cloud service broker to help maintain mission assurance and information interoperability within the new strategy. Harrison Donnelly That role is critical because, as the document acknowledges, harvesting Editor the potential benefits of cloud computing depends on the ability to manage “the new risks associated with an increasing dependence on rapidly emerging commercial technologies.” While DoD has special security and other considerations that DISA will make sure are met, the need for a cloud services broker is also becoming evident in the private sector, as companies seek help in navigating the market and bundling services for greater cost efficiency. The field is still evolving, but already a number of firms have arisen that help organizations “turn cloud services into what they need to make their business run,” according to David Mitchell Smith, a Gartner fellow and vice president of research. Similarly, DISA’s mission will be to consolidate demand for cloud services across the department and negotiate the best rates for usage. At the same time, it will help defense organizations tailor services to meet their unique needs, while also ensuring that the department’s information assurance and cybersecurity standards are met. Noting that DISA’s role will be to promote private sector cloud services that “provide a better capability at a lower cost with the same or greater degree of security as government-provided services,” the document requires that agencies use the brokerage service unless they can obtain a waiver from the CIO’s office.
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PROGRAM NOTES
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New Generation of Friendly Force Tracking The Army’s next-generation friendly force tracking and messaging system has crossed a key threshold in its path to fielding. The recent Milestone C decision for Joint Battle Command-Platform (JBC-P) moved the program from the engineering and manufacturing development phase to the production and deployment phase. Next up for JBC-P is a limited user test at the Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 13.1 this fall, followed by an initial operational test and evaluation at NIE 13.2 in the spring of 2013. Those tests will lead to a fielding decision by the Army. JBC-P is the follow-on program of record for Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below/Blue Force Tracking (FBCB2/BFT), which allows warfighters in vehicles, aircraft and command posts to track friendly forces and exchange messages in order to synchronize operations and reduce fratricide. It introduces a new user interface with intuitive features like touch-to-zoom maps and drag-anddrop icons, which received positive feedback from soldiers at the recent NIE 12.2. “The idea is to make it more user-friendly for the Nintendo-Xbox generation,” said Captain Ryan McNally, a company commander with the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division who used JBC-P during NIE 12.2. “It’s almost as easy to use as your computer at home.” The JBC-P screen also integrates the functionality of Tactical Ground Reporting (TIGR), a multimedia reporting system that allows lower-echelon soldiers to digitally capture, report and retrieve patrol data such as common incidents, residents and leaders of a village. “It’s good enough to get you down to the street level view,” McNally said. “As long as somebody has been there before and has that imagery uploaded into TIGR, you can see what they’ve seen as you drive down the road.” The other major step forward that comes with JBC-P is the introduction of networked handheld devices that will deliver a new level of mission command
and situational awareness to small units. For the first time, leaders in vehicles and command posts will be able to view the precise locations of dismounted forces. A handheld version of JBC-P software will run on Nett Warrior, a soldierworn, smartphone-like mission command system running various mission apps. These handhelds will be fielded to team leaders and above, allowing them to communicate seamlessly within their units and with higher headquarters. This combination, accomplished through the Rifleman Radio, will deliver timely blue force tracking information down to lower echelons, specifically at the team leader through platoon leader level. An interim step in the evolution of FBCB2 to JBC-P is the Joint Capabilities Release (JCR), which equips users with a faster satellite network known as BFT 2, Marine Corps interoperability, secure data encryption, chat room capability and other features. JCR is being fielded as part of Capability Set 13, the Army’s first integrated package of tactical communications gear that will be fielded to up to eight brigade combat teams starting in October. JBC-P also serves as the first version of the Mounted Computing Environment (MCE), one of six computing environments comprising the Army’s Common Operating Environment, a commercially based set of computing technologies and standards required for the network and each of its applications and systems. The vehicle-based MCE will leverage JBC-P investment to provide an environment for an integrated suite of mission command applications and services on various platforms. It will clearly define standards and processes for mission command software, reducing development time and cost. The system will use common data models with other CEs in order to achieve seamless, integrated mission command across echelons to the tactical edge.
PEOPLE Army Brigadier General Lawrence W. Brock III, U.S. Army Reserve, has been nominated for the rank of major general and for assignment as the commanding general, 335th Signal Command (Theater), East Point, Ga. Brock is currently serving as the command’s deputy commanding general. Air Force Brigadier General Donald S. George has been assigned as deputy chief, Central Security Service, National Security Agency.
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strategic communications for U.S. Forces-Iraq, and as director of the Air Force 754th Electronic Systems Group.
Gregory L. Garcia
Gregory L. Garcia, a member of the Senior Executive Service, has been named executive director of the Army Information Technology Agency. His previous experience includes serving as deputy director,
Mary M. Gillam has been appointed to the Senior Executive Service and is assigned as director, technology and innovation, Office of the Deputy Chief Management Officer. Gillam previously served as an associate with Booz Allen Hamilton, supporting the secretary of the Air Force’s chief information officer.
Arati Prabhakar, who formerly headed the National Institute of Standards and Technology, has been named director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Dave Schmitz has been named for the newly created position of chief operating officer of Cubic Defense Applications, where he will be responsible for all facets of worldwide operations, engineering and product line day-to-day performance, and will
directly support business development initiatives. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems has hired Edward A. Timmes Jr. as vice president of its intelligence systems business in its Cyber Systems division. Timmes will lead an organization focused on providing innovative solutions designed to harden systems, reduce vulnerabilities and defend against cyber attacks.
MIT 16.7 | 3
Military grapples with risks and benefits of allowing employees to use their own
electronic devices for work. By Karen E. Thuermer MIT Correspondent
Like many large organizations today that are uncertain about how to handle the booming popularity of employee-owned smartphones and other personal electronic devices in the workplace, the Army and other services are eyeing the possible benefits and risks of “bring your own device” (BYOD) policies. “The primary interest of BYOD to the Army is that it has the potential to extend mobile capability to users who would not otherwise be provided a government furnished device,” said Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Dosmann, mobility lead for the office of the Army CIO/G-6. “BYOD also has the possibility of reducing the number of devices someone is forced to carry.” Consider the video released on YouTube two years ago called the “Army Learning Concept 2015.” This fast-moving portrayal of warfighters in real situations shows how they could use smartphones to quickly train themselves for situations when they need it. “Training is one of the more straightforward use cases for BYOD,” commented Dosmann. “The soldier would be able to access their training from their personal device to keep their skills current and to get training they may not normally be able to receive.” Such instruction, he explained, could take place inside or outside of the classroom or at the point of need. “Another use case is providing medical treatment to soldiers convalescing away from DoD medical facilities,” Dosmann added. “A strong BYOD solution would address the requirements for a clinical consult.” While smartphone technology, driven by Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS operating systems, has been around for some years, the Department of Defense and other federal agencies have been slow at examining the potential benefits of allowing their employees to utilize their own smartphone devices at work. But the Army and Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) now are planning soon to issue a broad agency announcement for a third party approach to securing mobile devices. 4 | MIT 16.7
Policy Factors While federal agencies are definitely moving in the direction of using BYOD, up until now the DoD has been slow because of policy, observed Eugene Liderman, director of public sector for the Office of the Chief Technology Officer at Good Technology. “On the DoD side, BYOD is more a discussion topic because several things still have to happen,” Liderman said. “Today, it prohibits any government data on a personal device, and that is why we have policy guidelines.” According to Liderman, the big challenge is the potential risk of sensitive data leaking onto or out of the network. “When that happens, the policy dictates that the device on which that has occurred must be destroyed in most cases,” he said. “So this becomes a concern because the end user is not necessarily going to sign off on letting the federal government destroy their device.” Dosmann points out that although policy is the most crucial element impacting the use of BYOD in DoD today, the department’s policy for BYOD is, to a great degree, undetermined. “We have policies that govern our current remote access and teleworking use cases,” he said. “That would be the logical starting point.” At the heart of that policy is DoD Directive 8100.2, “Use of Commercial Wireless Devices, Services, and Technologies in the Department of Defense Global Information Grid (GIG).” This assigns responsibilities for the use of commercial wireless devices, services and technologies in the GIG, and describes what is required of wireless devices that attach or communicate with DoD networks and prohibits any government data from appearing on a personal device. Along with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD12), the DoD directive is used by other federal agencies to define their own wireless security requirements. These standards require strong, two-factor authentication and credentialing solutions to gain access to government networks. www.MIT-kmi.com
There’s also the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), which mandates continuous monitoring of systems. As Daniel Ford, chief security officer of Fixmo, emphasized, “FISMA mandates continuous monitoring of all FISMA systems, but the government cannot treat these smart devices in a manner consistent with the traditional computing environment.” Essentially, FISMA defines a framework for managing information security that must be followed for all systems used or operated by a federal agency or by a contractor or other organization on behalf of a federal agency. This framework is further defined by the standards and guidelines developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Dosmann points out that as to DoD 8100.2 and FISMA, the use of a virtualized environment where the BYOD session is occurring on an Army server, versus on the device itself, would satisfy these requirements. “The virtualized environment also addresses data at rest issues as no data is stored on the device,” he stated.
Security Issues In some cases, the threats that afflict smart devices are the same as those from traditional laptops and desktops. Worms, viruses and Trojans are all present, as are privacy leaks within applications and websites. “There are more attack vectors enabled particularly by smartphones, however, such as fraudulent text messaging for profit, monitoring voice calls, and extracting calendar and contact information,” noted James Brown, chief technology officer for StillSecure. On a traditional operating system, calendar and contact applications are not integrated into the operating system, so it’s more difficult for an application to access that data illicitly. “On smartphone operating systems (like Android, iOS and Windows Mobile), these data stores are sharable across multiple applications—in fact, application capabilities are much more sharable as well—which opens up a variety of new options for attackers,” Brown said. The prominent threats include unauthorized access to business data on a lost or stolen device, which may occur due to weak password controls on BYOD devices; OS rooting and jailbreaking, which leaves the device exposed to root access and dangerous permissions by third party apps; malicious applications and malware, which are amplified by the fact that IT can no longer restrict users from installing persona apps from third party storefronts; and privacy loss and identity theft. “Here the iOS keychain can be easily compromised and corporate credentials can be retrieved, in many cases in plain-text format,” remarked Ford. Also on the list are the increasing numbers of poorly designed commercial apps that access the user’s address book and upload the data to a third party server. While the creators of these apps may not have any malicious intent in mind, Ford pointed out that this mere threat could be developing into a compliance and regulatory issue. Cyber-attacks that emanate from malicious code and exploits of web browsers and SMS on mobile devices represent yet another danger. “Consumer-grade operating systems like iOS and Android have had known vulnerabilities in these areas, and hackers are now increasing their efforts on exploiting these devices as entry www.MIT-kmi.com
points into corporate networks,” Ford remarked. “BYOD devices are prime targets thanks to more lax security policies and IT control.” Another critical problem is the inability to wipe business data from a BYOD device due to personal privacy issues. “For example, what happens if an employee leaves an organization?” Ford asked. “If it is a BYOD device, IT typically will not be permitted to wipe the device as it contains a considerable amount of personal information and is property of the individual. Even if they wipe the corporate email from the device, how do they ensure no other business documents and data are stored?” Ford emphasized that secure distribution, monitoring and management of enterprise applications is becoming a critical topic, particularly with the rise of tablets. “Organizations need to understand the implications of distributing sensitive business apps to mobile devices, especially employee-owned devices where they may have less control and the device itself may be more vulnerable,” he said. Consequently, Fixmo executives urge that a comprehensive solution must consider the use of an enterprise app store for managing distribution, application security analysis tools for vetting the security of applications, and on-device containment techniques to ensure that all business apps deployed to the device inherit the same core policies that are being applied to corporate email and other apps.
Network Privileges The ways that IT administrators can identify which devices are government-issued and which are employee-owned, so that they can differentiate network access privileges, pose yet another issue. Brown suggests that perhaps the easiest and most consistent way to identify devices is to issue 802.1X client certificates and install them on government-issued devices, which can then be used to authenticate those devices and let them gain access to the proper parts of the network. “Devices without these certificates may receive limited or no network access on government networks,” he said. StillSecure’s network access control (NAC) product, Safe Access, aims to empower IT administrators to take control of their network, from a desktop to a mobile device and even a printer. “This eliminates risk to their corporate digital assets,” Brown said. Fixmo SafeZone also simplifies the process dramatically. “For those devices that have the SafeZone workspace, organizations can choose which applications to expose to those users—whether it be corporate email, browsing, document access or custom applications,” Ford said. Another big issue is network performance and sufficient capacity, particularly as the use of tablets and smartphones on private Wi-Fi networks increases. “IT organizations will need to monitor and effectively forecast network and infrastructure requirements,” Ford said. “In this essence it is essential that networking best practices are being used.” “There are many networking and security devices out there today that can easily classify traffic based on the mission priority,” he said. “There is probably no legitimate reason why Facebook should receive the same priority on the network as an application that is required to perform the mission. So, use the tools that are already within the enterprise to ensure the mission.” MIT 16.7 | 5
While devices on their own generally use less data than a desktop or laptop, the potential of a large number of devices significantly increases network requirements on an enterprise network. “Generally, internal networks are likely to be minimally impacted, while the majority of the load is likely to be seen on Internet links,” remarked Brown. “It’s critical for network planners to take this additional load into account, and budget for it, as it can be a significant additional expense.” Ultimately, the argument for a BYOD policy will have to rest on evidence that it will save the government money. Good Technology has successfully worked with the Department of Energy and its federally funded research and development labs to introduce a BYOD model as a means for reducing mobility costs due to budgetary issues. Liderman is adamant that BYOD “absolutely provides cost savings to agencies and productivity. At the end of the day, when users have gone home from work, there is a high probability that they will take out their device and still check work,” he said. Some in the industry contend that the jury is still out on whether or not BYOD can really save organizations money. Brown suggested that the BYOD movement is driven primarily by IT’s constituents. “Mobile devices are very popular and fast becoming an integral part of everyone’s lives. Even in the military, you can only say no so long before people tire of that answer and demand solutions that will allow them to work the way they want.” DoD needs to ensure that the cost of the solution fits into its business case, Dosman said. “In addition, the appropriate terms of use agreement need to be in place, as well as determining what use cases are appropriate to the BYOD environment.” “Mobile technology is a fast moving space with substantial developments every few months,” Dosman stated. “We are collaborating with our DoD partners and industry to ensure we are in a position to make best use of the technology as it becomes available.”
Data Management Solutions So how might a vendor work with the military to advance its use of BYOD? “Innovation that addresses a technological challenge is always helpful,” Dosmann said. “Currently, virtualization requires a lot of resources, such as bandwidth, and does not do well with intermittent connectivity.” The Army has been exploring use of a Common Access Card (CAC) enabled virtualization mobile app, which has the additional benefit of streamlining the security process as a well designed virtual machine is not susceptible to malware infecting the device it runs on. But as Dosmann added, “CAC readers are cumbersome and expensive (though a portion of that is due to DoD and Army policy).” Numerous mobile data management solutions are available that help set security policies, perform remote data wipes, require device encryption, limit the allowable apps on the device and other features. Some are limited, however, by each mobile operating system’s capabilities in each specific area, and also contribute to inconsistency in capabilities across different mobile operating systems and versions. StillSecure Safe Access offers the ability to identify mobile devices by their operating system type and limit their access to controlled resources across an enterprise network. “Mobile device users can authenticate themselves via a captive portal to gain additional 6 | MIT 16.7
access to the network,” Brown said. “Safe Access can also place mobile users into specific virtual networks based on Windows Active Directory groups or user accounts so they receive the proper access on a user by user basis.” StillSecure Safe Access is the most scalable and flexible network access control solution available, he maintained, adding that it has been successfully and continuously deployed in the military since the inception of the NAC market in 2004. Safe Access is “highly reliable, offering active-active failover, fully integrated load balancing,” Brown said. “It has a purpose-built compliance testing engine, which is capable of checking literally thousands of compliance issues in seconds. It can be deployed in numerous locations on a network, using multiple methods for enforcement, and is network hardware agnostic, and it fully supports BYOD.” Good Technology has been teaming up and collaborating with a host of industry partners to enhance mobile application security, secure enterprise and government mobility solutions for iOS and Android, and to deliver new military grade secure Android devices for DoD agencies. The integration of RSA’s Authentication Manager & Secure Authentication Engine with Good for Enterprise and Good Dynamics is resulting in the addition of two-factor authentication to iOS and Android apps, which will enhance mobile application security. Good’s work with Actividentity, part of HID Global, is extending identify and access management capabilities to mobile devices with strong multi-factor authentication and smart card support. Since enterprises and government agencies must comply with standards such as the DoD Directive 8100.2 and HSPD-12, their technology aims to mobilize smart cards and secure element technology. Good announced early this year that the first secure Android OS-based platform has been certified by DISA, which will allow Good for Government mobile device management and data loss prevention capabilities to be used on the GIG. This was the result of collaboration between Good Technology, Dell and other partners. Fixmo’s two products, SafeZone and Sentinel, are designed to protect organizations from a wide host of potential threats. Fixmo Sentinel monitors the underlying system to detect potential compromises, and OS rooting and tampering. Fixmo SafeZone keeps all corporate data and apps encrypted, contained and under IT control with application-level IT policies that are independent of the devicelevel policies. Fixmo SafeZone also blocks third party apps from accessing the business email, calendar or contact list since they are contained and controlled separate from the “native” personal apps. Furthermore, Fixmo SafeZone protects against jailbroken or rooted OSs by not allowing the user to open the corporate workspace and any business-related apps if it detects that the OS has been rooted or jailbroken. In addition, SafeZone addresses app issues in the event an employee leaves the organization. “IT can simply wipe SafeZone, and with it, all of the business apps and data including documents, the corporate browser cache and so on without impacting any of the personal data,” Ford said. O
For more information, contact MIT Editor Harrison Donnelly at harrisond@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.mit-kmi.com.
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Cyber-Situational Awareness Military and industry step up efforts to enhance decision making by having greater visibility and awareness of the cyber-domain.
Commanders and warfighters constantly strive for battlefield situational awareness, in which information on movements and events is disseminated as they are happening. At a higher level, harmful actions can—based on observation of individuals and objects, the analysis of sensor data and the interception of communications—be prevented. These are the same goals that now also prevail in the cyber-domain: performing reconnaissance on networks and systems and keeping tabs on the actions of adversaries. Cyber-situational awareness goes a step beyond cybersecurity and cyber-defense. Situational awareness needs to include a forward-leaning, proactive approach that enables network defenders to react to events in real time, instead of being constrained merely to analyzing occurrences after the fact. The ability to quickly synthesize data, recognize patterns and dynamically adapt at machine speed is a critical factor in cyberdomain information dominance, observed Rich Gleason, director of cybersecurity at CSC. www.MIT-kmi.com
By Peter Buxbaum MIT Correspondent
solve. The private sector, for Several military agenits part, is constantly develcies, including the Defense oping new technologies to Information Systems allow better views and better Agency, are devoting siganalysis of the cyber-landnificant resources to cyberscape. situational awareness. One “Cyber-situational awareaspect of cyber-situational ness seeks to enhance deciawareness that goes beyond sion making by having other military domains is the greater visibility and awareinvolvement of the defense ness of the cyber-domain,” industrial base. Not only does Kathy Warden said Manuel Hermosilla, the Department of Defense chief of the NetOps Program share information with conOffice at DISA. “It supports tractors, but the private secthe full spectrum of operator is involved in providing tions and includes the ability cyber-environments to the to direct and redirect capamilitary in many cases. The bilities to meet operational military also relies on the needs. We need to be aware capabilities of its private-secof threats beyond the entertor partners to help achieve prise. We need to know what cyber-situational awareness. is going on outside as well in As on the battlefield, order to defend ourselves.” achieving cyber-situational Diana Gowen “The conversation should awareness involves the collection and analysis of enor- diana.gowen@centurylink.com be around how to defeat a cyber-attack as it is happenmous volumes of data. This ing,” said Diana Gowen, senior vice presipresents technological challenges that the dent and general manager at CenturyLink. military often relies on the private sector to MIT 16.7 | 7
added intelligence. These “The government recognizes will be a waste of the anathat industry has some capalysts’ time. The sensors are bilities and skills in this area. only as good as the tuning Armed with some additional that goes into them.” data the private sector can The monitoring of netcollaborate with governwork traffic with sensors ment to do a much better yields large volumes of data. job of defending the nation’s “These need to be analyzed cyber-domains.” quickly,” said Jack Donnelly, “I look at cyber as another director of cyber programs military domain, the same as Dylan DeAnda at Raytheon. “You also need air, space and ground,” said dylan.deandra the capability to report that Kathy Warden, vice president @kratosdefense.com information to key decision of the Cyber Intelligence Divimakers,” which could be sion at Northrop Grumman. analysts, military officers, “The end result you want to or national leaders, “so they achieve is the same. But is can make real-time or near it harder to visualize what is real-time decisions.” going on inside a network. DISA owns and operates Cyber-situational awareness is a huge chunk of the DoD another element that warfcyber-infrastructure, and ighters need to get a complete provides a variety of enterpicture of their environment.” prise services to its many Commanders and warfJack Donnelly military customers. “We use ighters want information on and provide tools that mancyber-situational awareness as jack.donnelly@raytheon.com age and control the collecit pertains to the missions tion of information about they are executing, said Dylan the infrastructure and about DeAnda, director of technical flows of information,” said solutions at Kratos Defense Hermosilla. These include and Security Solutions. “There tools that continuously is a need to develop awareness monitor network environat a high level, but with the ments, security gateways ability to drill down to underthat seek out new vulnerstand the impact on a specific abilities, and visualization mission.” tools that seek to provide a common operating picture Instrumenting the Derek Gabbard to analysts, operators and Network dgabbard@lgscout.com decision makers. “There are also various The first step toward portals, widgets and other achieving cyber-situational software that seek to proawareness is in instrumentvide an analytic capability,” ing the network by placing said Hermosilla. “We expect sensors for collecting inforto see a push for more mation, according to Warden. analytics capabilities as we Next is continually updatmove forward.” ing the sensors as the threat “Analytics applications environment changes. Also need to ride on top of the important is the sharing of data to do the heavy lifting information throughout the John Linkous involved in sorting out the enterprise and with outside partners in the defense indus- johnkous@eiqnetworks.com true nuggets of information,” said Warden. “Visualization is not the trial base and with coalition partners. hardest part of the process but it is the way “You need sensors that hunt in the wilds the information gets presented to decision of the Internet as well as those that protect makers and therefore it is important.” your own domain,” said Warden. “Updating Sharing of cyber-information goes the sensors is critical so that you don’t genacross both formal structures and informal erate a lot of false positives or non-value8 | MIT 16.7
mechanisms. “It can be as formal as providing information to a central group,” said Warden, “or as informal as chief information security officers calling each other when they see something that doesn’t look quite right.” “The defense industrial base is part of the larger effort to achieve cyber-situational awareness,” said Hermosilla. “Industry and DoD are constantly sharing information. We also want to leverage private-sector capabilities so that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We are looking to academia, as well as companies like Google and Yahoo, to find open source technologies to deal with the big data issues involved in cyber-situational awareness.” “The private sector is a two-fold partner with DoD,” said Warden, “in that we are providing capabilities and resources to develop the solution, and in the fact that the industrial base is part of providing the environment itself. It owns a significant piece of the cyber-domain that DoD relies on. In that role, the private sector has additional capabilities and responsibilities to provide solution sets that ride on the infrastructure.” Over the last three years, DoD has been developing an infrastructure for sharing information across its enterprise as well as with its industry partners, according to Warden. “They are creating an environment, part of which is found in the U.S. Cyber Command, where information can be shared and pushed back out,” she said. “It is starting to work across organizations that control various pieces of the network and it is a very positive development. The government is also working on ways to get information and make technologies available to those, such as small and medium sized businesses, without ready access to them, and those are also steps in the right direction.”
Public-Private Links In another example of links between government and the private sector, a pilot program inaugurated about a year ago brings together the National Security Agency and other intelligence community constituents with major telecommunications carriers such as CenturyLink, as well as representatives of the defense industrial base. “The intelligence community has provided us with classified signatures of actors we are able to look for to prevent attacks before they happen,” said Gowen. www.MIT-kmi.com
then how do you bring it all together what is important to them. The result is envisioned to a single console?” said John Linkous, Enrichment refers to the to be a commercial email eIQ’s vice president and chief security and capability to drill down to get filtering system designed compliance officer. “To see how abnormal more information on areas to prevent network intruevents are affecting network traffic you or situations of interest. At sions. “Through this pilot need to see relationships among complex the end, you can achieve one program we have seen the data elements.” level of situational awarewillingness of the intelliSecureVue can deliver cyber-situational ness by achieving congence community and DoD awareness in single platform, accordtext and another by going to share information with ing to Linkous. “SecureVue natively through the enrichment industry and vice versa,” Jason Mical monitors firewall performance, tracks netprocess.” said Gowen. “As a result, work traffic and analyzes all these elements EIQnetworks provides we are able to create new jmical@accessdata.com of security data. It can also work with the a product called Securecapabilities that government technologies you already have. We provide Vue, which it describes as a unified situand industry can share to better prothe ability to correlate all this information ational awareness platform. “You can tect all of our networks and all of our together.” buy 15 different monitoring tools, but data.” Century Link is also participating in a Department of Homeland Security program that will install the latest version of Einstein, an intrusion detection system that monitors government network gateways for traffic patterns that indicate the presence of unwanted traffic, onto carrier networks. By collecting traffic information at agency gateways, Einstein provides analysts a big-picture view, synthesized of potentially malicious activity across federal networks. aCross enterprise, taCtiCal and Einstein helps identify configuration satellite networks problems, unauthorized network traffic, Assuring end-to-end availability, reliability and security network backdoors, routing anomalies, of critical communications resources. network scanning activities and baseline network traffic patterns. It also enables rapid detection of cyber-attacks and proNeuralStar real-time situational awareness for a vides federal agencies with early incident 360 view of IT, networks and cybersecurity. detection. “DHS saw what we are able to do with SecureInfo complete services including email filtering and asked us to migrate that continuous monitoring, cloud security and more. to the dot-gov world,” said Gowen. CyberC4 real-time cybersecurity products designed Emerging technologies for cyber-sitspecifically for satellite networks. uational awareness include those that set out to squeeze relevant information out of large volumes of data, visualize threat For more information, call 703-254-2000 or contact information at various system levels and KratosTTS@KratosDefense.com integrate cyber-threat data from multiple www.KratosDefense.com sources. Lookingglass Cyber Solutions built a system that takes data from 37 threat intelligence feeds and contextualizes and enriches the data so that decision makers get a clear picture of issues facing their corner of the universe. Contextualization means facilitating a view of data from a specific angle. “Decision makers want quick knowledge about the networks that matter to them,” said Derek Gabbard, chief executive officer Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force of Lookingglass. “We take all that activity and overlay it on a map so users can define
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SecureVue also facilitates continuous monitoring of compliance, a discipline advocated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and which is being increasingly regarded as a best practice for information systems security. “SecureVue can provide reports on the system as a whole,” said Linkous. “It correlates information on the system at the application, database and user levels and can tell when the system falls out of compliance. It then reports who made the change and when and in what context and whether or not the change was intentional.” AccessData Group recently launched a cyber-intelligence and response technology that integrates network forensics and malware analysis in a single dashboard. “Organizations traditionally have deployed disparate tools without collaboration or integration capabilities,” said Jason Mical, the company’s director of network forensics. “Our new framework contains complete intelligence in a single pane of glass.” The framework provides a view to data from multiple tools, including third-party tools that can be integrated with the product. The system also has a drill down capability, so that if an anomaly is found on a specific device, the operator can click on that device in a visualization and investigate the configuration of and the activity on that device in a detailed manner. “This significantly increases the ability to respond to and remediate a compromise within an organization,” said Mical. Another important capability on the market is the Dynamic Adaptive Defense offering from CSC, which cuts enterprisewide incident response from hours and days to minutes, and can completely automate responses to advance persistent threats and intrusion events so that parallel remediation actions can be carried out before damage can be done. Tying these capabilities into an advanced situational awareness solution that shows not only cyber-incidents, but also risk factors from throughout the enterprise, will provide a much clearer picture on enterprise risk in real time, while also providing the ability to mitigate those risks at the very moment of detection. This solution extended out of the enterprise and into the theater of military operations would give unprecedented capabilities in the blue force/red force tracking space, CSC officials say. 10 | MIT 16.7
Visualization Platform Kratos provides a visualization platform for cyber-situational awareness that accounts for configurations and compliance for all devices on a network. The company recently introduced a security information event manager called CyberC4-Alert, designed for satellite networks and operations, that provides real-time situational awareness and incident response for cybersecurity situational awareness and mission assurance. “Network attacks look different in the radio-frequency domain as opposed to the packet-based domain,” said Michael Smith, senior vice president of enterprise technology at Kratos. “Jamming on satellite networks degrades the signals and network performance. Because of our knowledge of the RF space, we can define what interference looks like and provide that information to users. You can’t run anti-virus software on a satellite network because of the higher performance requirements.” Satellite systems can also encounter configuration management challenges and other vulnerabilities not typically found on terrestrial networks. CyberC4-Alert constantly monitors for cybersecurity threats by gathering security event data from across the satellite network to provide situational awareness. “A correlation engine with user-defined rules and policies prioritizes events by their severity, alerting users of system threats, performance issues and compliance violations through a drill-down dashboard,” said Smith. For true cyber-situational awareness to become a reality, more work is needed to improve automation tools, according to Warden. “Threats are getting more sophisticated,” she said. “The problem is the ability to extract the right data from a number of elements. You are trying to identify something that hasn’t happened before. It is a question of looking at indications and warnings and taking the time to build confidence in the identification of patterns.” The military, in particular, must be able to deal with targeted attacks that have no existing signature or pattern, and have the ability to correlate unusual events inside the enterprise and the outside domain to try to identify hidden patterns of threats. Another significant concern is massive denial-of-service attacks that can compromise military communications and
mission systems at a pre-coordinated time and place. Identifying, visualizing and pinpointing the cause of these threats in a situational awareness system takes a great deal of sophistication and “big data” correlation and compute power. Equally important is the ability to dynamically adapt and mitigate these threats at machine speed in an automated and reliable fashion, noted CSC’s Bernie Thomas. But at the moment these analytical capabilities are “relatively immature,” Warden added. “Only in the last five to seven years has any real research and development been done in this space. We will see solutions over the next decade increase in sophistication and maturity with additional investments. This is one of the harder situational awareness problems and it can’t be solved quickly or cheaply.” The growing importance of wireless technologies and cloud computing also presents challenges to the future of cybersituational awareness. “Wireless security is more about the device itself and how it is engineered,” said Warden. “In order to protect the data on the devices, manufacturers have to build security into the devices or other ways must be found to layer security on top of the device itself.” “I think we will experience challenges as various organizations move part of their IT capabilities to the cloud,” said Donnelly. “Trying to figure out what is being done where and isolating it will be a challenge. We are trying to anticipate customer needs so that when a situational awareness capability will be required for the cloud, Raytheon will already have products to offer.” While DoD and intelligence community have been diligent in fostering partnerships with the defense industrial base on cyber-situational awareness, observers say less progress has been made in cooperation with coalition partners. “Other nations fight side by side with our forces, but they have been reluctant to share information on cyber-situational awareness due to security classifications or mistrust,” said Dylan DeAnda of Kratos. “Information sharing across boundaries will be a huge field to embark on, but it is needed.” O
For more information, contact MIT Editor Harrison Donnelly at harrisond@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.mit-kmi.com.
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COMSATCOM Center Update
(Editor’s Note: Following is an update on the latest news from the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Commercial Satellite Communications (COMSATCOM) Center, based on the center’s newsletter, “COMSATCOM Scoop,” available at: www.disa.mil/services/satcom/ comsatcom-services/scoop-newsletter)
Inmarsat Transition Update Inmarsat Non-Validated and Expiring Legacy Services The Inmarsat indefinite quantity/indefinite delivery contracts, which supported Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) and legacy mission requirements over the past 10 years, expired on June 5. To ensure continuity of services, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) initiated an Inmarsat Bridge contract with a one-year base period ending June 5, 2013, and two six-month options thereafter. Meanwhile, the transition of ongoing Inmarsat Communications Service Authorizations (CSA) to the new General Service Administration SIN 132-55 is underway. Success of the transition depends crucially on MILDEP cooperation to discontinue non-validated requirements and expiring legacy service requirements. Non-Validated CSAs: The COMSATCOM Center is working with MILDEPs and the functional community to “validate” ongoing CSAs. This is important both to establish continuing need and ensure communications with end-users to avoid disruptions during service transitions. The DISA Direct Order Entry System (DDOE) database reports more than 7,000 Inmarsat CSAs; over 3,500 of these have yet to be validated and contain obsolete contact information or represent services no longer in use. If these CSAs are no longer required, a discontinue order must be submitted using DDOE. This action is necessary for two reasons: It instructs DISA to release a contracting notice to the vendor to end the service and prevent unintended future charges; and it helps provide a better picture of the Global Information Grid and Department of Defense bandwidth usage by purging unused CSAs from DISA databases. As the COMSATCOM Center transitions CSAs, we are requesting each MILDEP and functional community representative take action
to submit discontinue orders by June 2013. A breakdown of the nonvalidated CSAs by Services type can be provided upon request. Expiring Inmarsat Legacy Services: The Inmarsat I3 satellites have been in inventory since 1996 and provide global Inmarsat legacy services, mainly at low speeds and data rates. Inmarsat is retiring this fleet as it continues to promote BGAN and next generation Mobile Subscription Services. In fiscal year 2011, Inmarsat released a schedule to notify the user community of the company’s planned phase-out timelines of specific legacy services. As we monitor the ordering and usage of these legacy services, we see a decline of their use within DoD. In the fourth quarter of FY12, DISA plans to award a blanket purchase agreement (BPA) dedicated to legacy services only to ensure capabilities are available until scheduled expiration. Inmarsat plans to phase out five legacy services by the end of December 2012: Inmarsat B, Inmarsat M, Land Mini-M, D+, and M4. Only Inmarsat C will continue beyond the BPA period of performance. Some legacy services will be available through an Aeronautical and Maritime Inmarsat services BPA. These include all aeronautical legacy services (such as Swift 64, Aero H and Aero H+), as well as maritime services such as Maritime Mini-M, Fleets 33, 55 and 77. For those customers looking to fulfill a capabilities void, now is the time to budget and plan for BGAN services prior to the phaseout of Inmarsat’s legacy services. Customers would have to incur upfront costs of new BGAN terminals, but would benefit from faster throughput speeds and more robust capabilities. BGAN BPAs will offer competitive commercial pricing.
SATCOM Link Performance Drivers There are four key factors that can generally impact quality levels of SATCOM solutions and ultimately affect the outcome of user requirements being met. The focus of this article is to highlight the importance these service guidelines for the COMSATCOM Center audience. The four service areas do not apply to all SATCOM user requirements, but generally include: • • • •
SATCOM link quality Satellite coverage SATCOM link capacity and system connectivity SATCOM link availability and reliability
Link Quality Data Requirements: Data transmitted over a SATCOM link is vulnerable to system errors, which compromise communications quality. 12 | MIT 16.7
Measures such as the bit error rate (BER) and packet erasure rate (PER) indicate the probability of error over the link. The commercial satellite service request (CSSR) document, which is used to capture customer information and requirements, specifies the minimum acceptable BER or PER level to satisfy each requirement. Receiving modem baseband link performance is measured by the bit energy-to-noise density ratio (Eb/No) and can be computed from SATCOM link budgets. For a SATCOM link to perform satisfactorily, the proposed link must offer an Eb/No value greater than the minimum threshold Eb/No needed by the modem to support the target BER. The SATCOM link margin is defined as the difference between the proposed Eb/No (required) and the threshold Eb/No. If this link margin is negative, then the SATCOM link will not have sufficient power resources to close the link. The link margin must be sufficiently high to support the target BER, enhance link robustness, and counter the effect of rain and other www.MIT-kmi.com
propagation effects as well as antenna pointing errors and collateral degradations. SATCOM solutions should include a link margin to ensure user requirements are supported. Voice and Video Requirements: Voice and video quality is measured by the mean opinion score (MOS). MOS is a scale measure based on test-user feedback, ranging from 1 (impossible to communicate) to 5 (comparable to a good, face-to-face conversation). For voice over IP and web-based video applications, the quality of service (QoS) is another metric used to control of resource reservation. QoS comprises requirements on all the aspects of a connection, such as service response time, loss, signal-to-noise ratio, cross-talk, echo, interrupts, frequency response and loudness levels. In this context, the QoS attempts to measure the level of user satisfaction. As a best practice, proposed SATCOM solutions should focus on ensuring MOS and QoS targets are met to ensure user requirements are met. Coverage The effective coverage area of a satellite transponder is defined by its footprints: the transponder G/T (d/K) footprint and the transponder equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) footprint. These are land/ sea surfaces over which the transponder G/T and EIRP are projected. These projections are typically represented as contour lines mapping various G/T and EIRP values. To ensure good communications, both the transmit and receive sites must be within their respective transponder footprints (satellite G/T footprint for the up-link and satellite EIRP footprint for the receive site). For the same link capacity, a better set of satellite footprints (space segment parameters) can be traded off for cheaper ground resources— that is, antennas, high power amplifiers or receivers—a better end-to-end
link performance, or a higher link margin. The COMSATCOM Center considers space-segment resources as a premium asset in most satellite communications links, and generally endorses solutions that offer robust links with optimized satellite G/T and EIRP footprints whenever possible, along with efficient modulation and coding schemes capable of supporting the user requirement with adequate link margins. Capacity and System Connectivity Most applications and baseband requirements, such as web access, text, audio, image or video file transfers, can be converted to data rates in bits per second. The data rate requirement and a connectivity matrix are usually specified in the previously mentioned CSSR document. An efficient coupling of the data rates and the modulation and coding methods usually yield optimized bandwidth (MHz) solutions without compromising link quality. The COMSATCOM Center generally favors solutions that support the required applications, link capacity and network connectivity, coupled with efficient modulation and coding schemes. Link Availability and Reliability Link availability is another key performance driver in satellite communications link design. For Ku- and Ka-bands, rain attenuation and depolarization effects are the dominant factors in the determination of end-to-end link availability. Other contributors to link outage include equipment failure and sun transit. The desired link availability targets for various types of satellite communications links are listed in the CSSR document. The COMSATCOM Center recommends solutions that offer adequate margins and schemes to protect the link against downtime due to rain, propagation effects, equipment failures and power outages.
EMSS Industry Partner Announces Release of Iridium 9603 The Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) industry partner and service provider, Iridium, has announced the release of its Iridium 9603 two-way global satellite data transceiver, the next level of innovation in the Iridium family of products. The Iridium 9603 reduces the size and weight considerably and is one-fourth of the volume, one-half the footprint and onethird the weight from its predecessor, the Iridium 9602, without sacrificing any performance in the Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) service. The device weighs 11 grams and has the diminutive dimensions of 31.5mm x 29.6mm x 8.1mm—a small package that can fit in most desired form factors and serves even the most covert of operations. The Iridium 9603 is not currently offered on DDOE, but customers may purchase the device from Iridium resellers. For a list of Iridium resellers, visit the Iridium website at www.iridium.com and click on, “How to Buy.” Once a government customer purchases the device, they must purchase secure EMSS SBD service for data transceivers, through the DDOE website at https://www.disadirect.disa.mil/. EMSS provides secure global SATCOM services under the COMSATCOM Center. EMSS offers a breadth of services that includes voice, secure voice, Distributed Tactical Communications System, messaging and data to DoD, other federal departments, agencies, state and local governments, and approved foreign and allied government users. EMSS offers SBD with automatic billing using the “usage based tiered” pricing structure. The pre-negotiated SBD service is exceptionally competitive with the www.MIT-kmi.com
commercial sector and also offers two key advantages: Users have the flexibility of tiered data usage, to include unlimited data, and the added assurance of secure communications through the EMSS Gateway. SBD Costs for FY12 (Includes 2.0 percent DITCO fee) $81.60 one-time activation fee $133.29 per month—unlimited $66.99 per month—up to 100 kb $26.19 per month—up to 30 kb $10.89 per month—inactive
For pricing updates, check DDOE at https://www.disadirect.disa.mil/. The EMSS 24/7 Help Desk is available to answer all customer questions about the full suite of EMSS devices, services, features and accessories. EMSS Help Desk (24/7) CML: 877-449-0600 DSN: 312-282-1048 Email: customer.service@gdc4s.com O For more information, contact MIT Editor Harrison Donnelly at harrisond@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.mit-kmi.com.
MIT 16.7 | 13
DATA BYTES Alliance Offers End-to-End UHF Tactical Satellite Solutions
Harris CapRock Communications, a global provider of fully managed communications for remote and harsh environments, has signed a multi-year, multi-channel agreement with Astrium Services to offer end-to-end Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) tactical satellite solutions to international and U.S. government users. The service will be launched in spring 2013. Harris CapRock now joins Astrium Services in providing UHF solutions across the entire Skynet Fleet as a global channel partner. Astrium Services owns and operates a fleet of military-grade geosynchronous communications satellites with both UHF and X-band payloads. UHF is the ultra-critical communications link designed for users at the tactical edge, and for command and control reachback. As the most robust beyond-line-of-sight communications available, access to scarce UHG satellite capacity is becoming increasingly important. The joint service offers domestic and international users access to an unprecedented level of control over UHF capacity over today. The service will include dedicated 25 kHz and 5 kHz satellite channels for use with any UHF tactical satellite-capable radios. Using a new Harris TACSAT waveform, offered as part of the end-to-end service, users will be able to actively manage their channels by splitting the capacity into multiple networks for simultaneous users.
Mobile Application Controls Close Security Gap Blue Coat Systems has introduced mobile application controls designed to close the security gap created by unsanctioned mobile applications on the corporate network. With its mobile application controls, Blue Coat uniquely gives IT the ability to manage the use of unsanctioned applications and consistently enforce policies across all devices on the network. To prevent unauthorized or undesired use of the corporate network, Blue Coat mobile application controls uniquely extend to mobile applications the same granular operational controls the company provides for web-based applications. With these operational controls, businesses can set policies around specific functions within both web-based and mobile applications. This enables businesses to consistently enforce policy across all devices and allows them to regain control over the applications on their network. The new mobile application controls are integrated into the Blue Coat ProxySG appliances and the Blue Coat Cloud Service.
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Platform Used for Advanced Fixed and Mobile Comms Intelsat has announced that Harris CapRock will utilize the Intelsat Epic platform on Intelsat 29e for advanced fixed and mobile communications services. Under a multi-year agreement, Harris CapRock will utilize the next-generation Intelsat Epic platform to expand its service offerings and offer new applications to its global customers across the energy, maritime and government markets. Harris CapRock currently has Ku-band capacity on multiple satellites on the Intelsat fleet, which will expand to Intelsat 29e when it is launched. The agreement, which will enable the provision of more than one gigabit of throughput on the Intelsat Epic satellite platform, furthers Harris CapRock’s global relationship with Intelsat. The Intelsat Epic platform, initially comprising Intelsat 29e and Intelsat 33e, will utilize multiple frequency bands, wide beams, spot beams and frequency reuse technology. Intelsat Epic will be complemented by Intelsat’s existing satellite fleet and IntelsatONE terrestrial network. The two satellites, which are expected to launch in 2015 and 2016 respectively, will serve all of the populated continents.
Dispersed Compute Storage Solution Cuts Costs Cleversafe has announced plans to build the first dispersed compute storage solution by combining the power of Hadoop MapReduce with Cleversafe’s highly scalable objectbased Dispersed Storage System. This solution will significantly alter the Big Data landscape by decreasing infrastructure costs for separate servers dedicated to analytical processes, reducing required storage capacity, and simultaneously improving data integrity. In addition, the company’s solution will reduce network bottlenecks by bringing together computation and storage at any scale, petabytes to exabytes and beyond. Traditional storage systems are not designed for large-scale distributed computation and data analysis. Present implementations treat data storage
and analysis of that data separately, transferring data from storage area networks or network attached storage across the network to perform the computations used to gather insight. In this manner the network quickly becomes the bottleneck, making multisite computation over the WAN particularly challenging. Cleversafe solves this problem by combining Hadoop MapReduce alongside its Dispersed Storage Network system on the same platform and replacing the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS), which relies on three copies to protect data, with information dispersal algorithms, thereby significantly improving reliability and allowing analytics at a scale previously unattainable through traditional HDFS configurations. www.MIT-kmi.com
Compiled by KMI Media Group staff
Cross-Domain Solution Used to Access Classified Networks Raytheon Trusted Computer Solutions has announced that its Trusted Thin Client (TTC) is now being used by the intelligence community to access classified networks at remote locations throughout the cloud. TTC is a cross-domain solution that enables secure access to multiple classified networks and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments from a thin client and single network connection. TTC consists of client and server software. The server component, or distribution console (DC), runs on a server at the data center and allows the TTC clients to securely access user desktops, data and applications from a VDI environment at each network security level. DC spanning enables TTC client access across the wide area network to other DCs in the cloud. This provides immediate access to distant VDI environments at security levels not available locally. DC Spanning can also be used to expand the number of network connections provided by a single DC.
On-Premise Private Cloud Tailored for Government Agencies CSC has unveiled BizCloud for Government, which it describes as the industry’s first and only on-premise private cloud that is billed as a service and ready for application workloads in 10 weeks. As federal agencies strive to improve operational efficiencies, reduce costs, meet federal mandates and embrace cloud services, CSC’s BizCloud for Government provides the privacy, security and control of a private cloud with the agility, convenience and elasticity of a public cloud. Based on CSC’s standardized and proven commercial BizCloud, BizCloud for Government is tailored to address government agencies’ IT, security and mission requirements. BizCloud for Government accelerates government agencies’ adoption of a private cloud by eliminating long lead times for implementation and utilizing the convenience of an operational spending model. BizCloud for Government, a VMware vCloud Datacenter Service, gives users a private cloud behind their firewall or on their premises of choice and ready for workloads in just 10 weeks. By offering this service, CSC is also helping address the cybersecurity concerns related to cloud adoption. BizCloud for Government is a unique private cloud package of products and services that is designed to meet Federal Information Security Management Act certification and accreditation controls without the long lead times that “building your own” cloud requires.
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New Tactical Products Offer Battlefield Data Harris has released several new tactical communications products representing a new generation of its Falcon III radio line. They include: • The Falcon III RF-7800M-HH, which provides unprecedented access to information by allowing warfighters to communicate by voice, video and data anywhere on the battlefield. The 7800M wideband handheld supports network-enabled missions through applications such as video, collaborative chat and situational awareness. It uses the field-proven Harris Adaptive Networking Wideband Waveform, which is used in more than 20,000 radios. • The Falcon III RF-7800H wideband manpack, the world’s smallest,
lightest and fastest wideband high frequency (HF) radio. The RF-7800H dramatically improves HF tactical communications by transmitting video clips, images, maps and other large data files from beyond-line-ofsight environments for the first time. • The RF-7800-OU500, the next generation of the combat-proven Falcon III RF-7800W HighCapacity Line-of-Sight radio. The new unit provides the backbone for delivering command and control and situational awareness information between headquarters and the lowest echelons of the battlefield—allowing warfighters to use mission-critical applications such as real-time video, biometrics, IP telephony and teleconferencing.
Command On-the-Move System Supports U.S. Army in Korea
ITT Exelis has been awarded a Rapid Equipping Force contract to provide mission command on the move (MCOTM) systems for the U.S. Army 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea. The Global Network on the Move-Active Distribution (GNOMAD) system provides broadband, on-the-move, satellite connectivity through the integration of several COTS products. It delivers a combat-proven, modular, reliable communications system to extend critical network connectivity to the lowest possible echelon on the battlefield. The contract award is in support of the unit’s operational needs statement that required a MCOTM system to support contingency missions in South Korea. Exelis also provided GNOMAD systems for the 4th Infantry Division while it was deployed to Iraq in 2011. The systems being delivered will have the same configuration as those used in Network Integration Exercise 12.1 at Fort Bliss, Texas, and White Sands Missile Range, N.M., that hosted mission command applications such as Command Post of the Future. GNOMAD’s reduced size, weight and power make it a viable solution for integration into multiple Army ground platforms, including MineResistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles, M1(V) Abrams, M2 Bradleys and Strykers. MIT 16.7 | 15
Information Dominator
Q& A
Integrating Information Power Across All Core Functions Lieutenant General Michael J. Basla Chief, Information Dominance Chief Information Officer Air Force As chief, information dominance and chief information officer for the Air Force, Lieutenant General Michael J. Basla leads four directorates and supports 77,000 cyber operations and support personnel across the globe with a portfolio valued at $17 billion. He has overall responsibility for networks and network-centric policies, communications, information resources management, information assurance, and related matters for the Department of the Air Force. As CIO, Basla provides oversight of portfolio management, delivers enterprise architecture, and enforces freedom of information act and privacy act laws. He integrates Air Force war fighting and mission support capabilities by networking air, space and terrestrial assets. Additionally, he shapes doctrine, strategy, and policy for all cyberspace operations and support activities. Basla received his commission in 1979 as a distinguished graduate of Officer Training School. He has served in five operational communications units including commands at detachment, squadron and group levels. He has extensive joint experience, including a tour as director for C4 Systems, Joint Task Force Southwest Asia in Saudi Arabia, where he delivered integrated network operations in support of United Nations security resolution enforcement against Iraq. He has served on the staffs of the Joint Staff, U.S. Transportation Command, Headquarters Air Force, Air Mobility Command and Air Force Communications Command. Prior to his current assignment, Basla was vice commander, Air Force Space Command, where he assisted the commander in organizing, equipping, training and maintaining mission-ready space and cyberspace forces and capabilities for North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Strategic Command and the other functional and geographic combatant commands with missile warning, positioning, navigation and timing, communications and cyber capabilities. Basla graduated in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the University of New York, Albany. Basla was interviewed by MIT Editor Harrison Donnelly. Q: How would you describe your mission as chief of information dominance and CIO? A: My role is to ensure that information power is integrated across all of the Air Force service core functions. We accomplish this by developing the overarching policy for IT and advocate for resources that ensure Air Force capabilities satisfy Air Force and the joint warfighter requirements. I am also responsible for the training and development of airmen, to include civilians, in the cyberspace operations and support career fields. My team manages the training pipeline for the workforce to ensure our warriors are prepared for the unique requirements of the cyberspace domain. 16 | MIT 16.7
Q: How do you define “information dominance”? A: Information dominance affords airmen the ability to apply air, space and cyberspace power at the time and place of our choosing. It is achieved when we have a greater understanding of the strengths, weaknesses and centers of gravity of an adversary’s military, political, social and economic infrastructure than they have of ours. I see it as global in nature and an underpinning of global vigilance, global reach and global power. Q: What do you see as the critical information technology issues facing the Air Force? A: There are several information technology issues facing our Air Force today, and many of them stem from the decentralized manner in which we acquired capabilities in the past. One major issue facing us is the proliferation of data centers across the department— we have hundreds of them. A few years ago, OMB issued a directive to the entire federal government, including the Department of Defense, to consolidate and reduce the number of data centers in an effort to reduce overall costs associated with the power and maintenance of running these facilities. In addition, by consolidating the data centers we will reduce our footprint, which will enable us to better protect our applications and information. This effort is ongoing, and we realize now we need to take it much further and do it faster. We are in the process of consolidating and centralizing key services, such as email, on the Air Force enterprise. This will help us create a common infrastructure and environment for mission and www.MIT-kmi.com
support applications. Having a common environment will simplify the burden placed on system developers, since they will no longer have to engineer and build out the supporting infrastructure for their individual systems. This will also reduce the life cycle total cost of ownership, speed deployment of capabilities, and streamline security accreditation. Developing a common environment available to all systems will foster certain uniformity across our data centers. While the current budget constraints drive us towards a “fewer is better” mentality, we still need an architecture that is resilient and survivable. It will require a fail-over capability to maintain continuity of operations and data centers strategically located around the globe to help ensure adequate performance and mission availability. However, there is no reason we can’t go from hundreds to a few dozen and have a much more manageable construct. If we’re ever going to get to the cloud in a meaningful way, this is a key step. Q: What about mobile devices? A: Another issue, and a highly visible one, is mobility and mobile devices. In the commercial and private sectors, we’ve seen the rapid development and penetration of the new generation of smartphones and tablet devices into so many areas of our lives. Not only have these devices changed the way people conduct their personal and professional business, but also they have permanently changed our expectation of what it means to have access to data. Being connected when you’re on the move has gone from being a convenience to being a necessity for a large portion of the workforce. Since many airmen already use mobile devices in their personal lives and see them as a potential mission-enabling capability, there is significant internal pressure to field the new generation of mobile devices into our enterprise and we are working on this. Before we can do this, we need to find the right balance between usability and security. Information contained on these devices needs to be properly protected, and user access and authentication need to meet our security requirements. We need to move beyond the device and focus the capabilities these devices bring to the fight. Again, the fundamental issue is protecting sensitive data and data sources on the device. We need a layer of security between the “untrusted” apps and our mission apps without crippling the device. I should mention that these challenges, and many others, are being addressed in collaboration with the DoD chief information officer, Defense Information Systems Agency, the services and key DoD agencies. This collaboration is an imperative given today’s fiscal constraints and user demands. Q: What outlook do you see for the Air Force IT budget in the coming years, and if savings are going to be needed, how will you achieve them? A: I am sure it is no surprise to anyone that the defense budget is shrinking. However, I think the cyber and IT portion of the budget needs to grow as we increasingly rely on these capabilities. Our current efforts reflect the IT investment efforts to align and eliminate unneeded expenditures and rebalance spending. There is no question that difficult choices lie ahead in prioritizing our resources, but these decisions will set the foundation for the cyber and IT mission priorities. We have linked our major investments with the priorities of the secretary of the Air Force and Air Force chief of staff. First, to continue to strengthen the Air Force nuclear enterprise, we will continue to provide www.MIT-kmi.com
the most modern and reliable cryptographic program to ensure the safety of vital nuclear assets. The Air Force is dedicated to making the necessary IT investments to achieve our top priority of continuing to strengthen the nuclear enterprise by continuing to improve our cryptographic program. These investments provide a modern and reliable cryptographic program to ensure the safety and security of our nation’s most vital assets to include nuclear weapons and the IT systems that support this mission. Second, in partnering with joint and coalition team members, we will build networks that ensure the safety of data in any environment while ensuring the necessary data is shared appropriately across domains. The fiscal year 2013 budget request includes funding for end strength increases in cyberspace and command and control capabilities; enhanced and expanded network operations; network access engineering; adjustments for infrastructure to support remotely piloted aircraft combat air patrols by the end of fiscal 2013; and personnel to support the Distributed Common Ground System, which is critical to warfighter needs for information superiority. Third, we will develop and care for airmen by providing them the best possible IT systems and support while ensuring they have the tools and training necessary to maintain them. As we continue to modernize end-user equipment, we must also provide the necessary training to develop our airmen. Integrating existing assets with augmented reality tools under the Enterprise Architecture for Live, Virtual and Constructive Environments [EA-LVCE] provides airmen in all functional areas the real-time decision making capability to prepare for the future. EA-LVCE will allow the Air Force to utilize existing inventories and augment them with virtual computer-generated capabilities to prepare, train and maintain a constant operations tempo without substantially increasing costs to capital equipment and fuel. Additionally, the Air Force is continuing to update and bolster undergraduate cyber-training courses, which saw its first graduates reach the field in fiscal 2011. This budget ensures that our airmen continue to have the foundational training necessary to defend and operate the Air Force network. Fourth, our ability to smartly invest in IT helps provide valuable Air Force funding necessary to modernize all our aging air, space and cyberspace inventories. Seven initiatives play a vital role in achieving the savings necessary for investment while modernizing and improving our networks. This will allow the Air Force to continue realigning funds toward the modernization of its major weapon system platforms. Finally, we are committed to the role we play in new and ongoing acquisition and IT reform to recapture acquisition excellence in the Air Force and DoD, and we remain in concert with the DoD CIO’s 25 point reform effort. During FY12, we returned more than $1.2 billion of Air Force top line for higher Air Force and DoD priorities. This investment strategy is closely managed by Air Force CIO oversight to ensure visibility into how our nation’s resources are spent. Our consistent goal is to enhance the Air Force portion of the Global Information Grid to one that is global and integrated across all Air Force domains—air, space and cyberspace. Our continued priority is to modernize and develop the proper safeguards to secure our data, without restricting critical war fighting information needed in the joint and coalition environment or the personal networks necessary for the training, morale and welfare of our soldiers and airmen. Q: As vice commander of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), you were very involved with cyberspace and security issues. What role will you play on those issues as CIO? MIT 16.7 | 17
A: With information assurance being a key enabler of cyberspace operations, specifically defensive cyberspace operations, my role as CIO will be to partner with the cyber core function lead integrator to provide oversight and management of the AF information assurance program, implement enterprisewide IA governance and enterprise risk management activities, while ensuring AF compliance with statutory DoD compliance. Our relationship with AFSPC is critical, and the CIO plays a significant role in advocacy for cyber-initiatives to strengthen our enterprise security posture. Not only does this effort protect our mission, operations, and business process information and systems, but it also fosters improved cyber C2 capability. As we move to the Joint Information Environment, DISA Cloud Computing Services, and other cyberspace security initiatives, our partnership with AFSPC is imperative to ensure success. Finally, my role as CIO in relation to AFSPC is to ensure AF policies and instructions support cyberspace operations and synchronized in a fast moving operational environment all in an effort to provide our combatant commanders and warfighters mission assurance. Q: Shortly before being named Air Force CIO, you and then-CIO Lieutenant General Lord signed a “Cyberspace Operations Support Community Transformation” document. What are you trying to accomplish with that, and how will you work to achieve those goals? A: The intent of the transformation plan is to establish the cyberspace operations and support community as the premier provider of unparalleled cyberpower to the Air Force and the joint warfighter. It is based on guidance found in national, DoD and Air Force high level strategies, including the Air Force Cyberspace Superiority Core Function Master Plan. The plan defines and articulates the future of the community. It provides a roadmap that describes our future state capabilities and our required actions and timelines for achieving the vision. The plan outlines five core competencies: cyberspace operations, knowledge operations, cyberspace operations support, war fighting integration and governance. Q: How would you assess Air Force progress in recent years in responding to the challenge of cyberspace? A: The Air Force has been and will continue to organize, train and equip the service to conduct operations in cyberspace. We’ve made great organizational progress in standing up the 24th Air Force and designating AFCYBER as the Air Force component to U.S. Cyber Command. Over the past year the Air Force has streamlined processes to better support the Air Force overall and combatant commanders. With the 24th Air Force as the service’s lead for cyber operations, all orders/ tasks that originate from USCYBER flow out to the Air Force via the 624th Operations Center [OC], the execution arm for the 24th Air Force. The 624th OC issues orders, tasks and notices to the Air Force for the protection, operation and defense of the Air Force network and its information. Operations in the cyberspace arena depend heavily on the timely availability of precise intelligence on targeted systems. The authority to access the necessary information for planning purposes, in the absence of an EXORD, is vital to ensuring that operations are properly planned and executed. 624th OC established an ISR division to assist in providing intelligence support on threats and vulnerabilities, as well as producing cyber-threat newsletters to assist in protecting Air Force information and resources. 18 | MIT 16.7
Q: Where do you see Air Force policy on mobile devices going in the next few years? How would you assess the risks and benefits of allowing airmen to use their own devices for work? A: Air Force policy will evolve to enable the deployment of mobile, device-agnostic capability to support operational needs. Our policy will be consistent with the assessment and use new commercially available devices and technology that can scale up to enterprise implementation. The security and safeguard of Air Force data will continue to be a top priority as mobile devices springboard us to a more mobile and agile workforce. Mobile devices posture Air Force personnel to be mission-effective anytime and anywhere. If a bring-your-own-device policy is enacted by DoD and the Air Force, a proper balance of technical and procedural guidelines will have to be strictly followed to protect Air Force data stored on a device. Protection of Air Force data on personal devices is equally important as protecting data on government systems. The 688th Information Operations Wing is doing some great work for us in this area and conducting several pilots with different devices within separate major commands. The results of these pilots will be released soon and help inform us to set the right policy on the use of these tools. Q: What role do you see for cloud computing in Air Force operations? A: Cloud computing has a major role in the future of Air Force operations. Everything we’re doing on the back end of the enterprise—data center consolidation, migration to centralized email and services, web-enabled applications and many other activities—puts us on a course for cloud computing, whether that be public, private or hybrid, or inside the DoD or from industry. However, things aren’t so simple. Moving to the cloud and data security remains our major issues. Depending on the sensitivity of the information and applications, cloud services and the associated data may reside in one of a variety of cloud environments. Air Force clouds may run the full gambit from purely commercial, fee-forservice environments to entirely government-owned and -operated clouds. There will be a lot of trade-space in the “hybrid cloud” arena, where some aspects of particular cloud service may be supported by a contractor or commercial entity and others supported by the Air Force or DoD. There are many permutations of who owns the physical computing center, who manages the data, who maintains the application. One of our challenges is to find the right balance without reinventing the wheel each time we field or transition to a new cloud service. The DoD CIO has issued guidance on what type of cloud is appropriate based on the sensitivity of the system that is hosted in that environment. We’re actively working with the DoD CIO, DISA and the other services as we move closer towards the cloud. In a general sense, we want to outsource as much of the cloud operation and maintenance as we can while maintaining security and keeping costs under control. We also need to be careful to avoid being locked in to a particular vendor’s proprietary cloud solution. The cost benefit of cloud will partially come from competition, so our cloud services will need to be flexible and agile. Q: Do you see the Air Force moving to a DoD-wide enterprise email system? www.MIT-kmi.com
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A: Absolutely. We’ve already committed to do this. I previously mentioned that we’re consolidating the Air Force enterprise into a centrally managed construct with centralized services, including email. We expect to accomplish this after the AFNET migration is completed in 2013. Though this is a ways off, the fact of the matter is we’re doing the really difficult legwork now. The current approach of consolidating base by base would be necessary in either case. We’ll standardize the Air Force first then transition our consolidated architecture into the DoD implementation. Q: In a recent speech, you promised as CIO to do more to promote homogeneity in acquisition. How do you intend to achieve that, and do you see that as being in conflict with acquisition rules aimed at competitiveness and an open environment for industry? A: Promoting homogeneity in IT acquisition supports acquiring agile and interoperable IT solutions. This is not in conflict, and in fact promotes the use of acquisition rules aimed at competitiveness and an open environment for industry. As CIO, by implementing and executing initiatives to standardize how we share, store and secure our information, we are not only advancing the AF to a leaner, more effective IT portfolio, but are also providing industry with expected criterion and benchmarks for success. This encourages industry to offer innovative, competitive solutions to help meet our mission needs.
Q: What are some of the other areas under your jurisdiction that you plan to devote special attention to in the coming months, and what programs and initiatives are you considering? A: Later this fall, the secretary of the Air Force will host a Cyber Summit, and he has directed me and my staff to lead this effort. The goal is to articulate the Air Force’s cyberspace vision and set a strategy to achieve it. We will discuss the cyberspace mission, capabilities, manpower, career path, resources, and recruiting of cyberspace talent in order to offer results or recommendations to OSD to meet fiscal year 2014 POM timelines. My top three cyber priorities to support the joint fight are to: develop premier cyber-airmen; enable cross-domain resilient cyberspace capabilities; and deliver effective IT enterprise solutions. With these priorities in mind, I will focus on supporting the Joint Information Environment initiative, implementing the IT efficiencies and continuing to focus on the workforce transformation. Q: Is there anything else you would like to add? A: These are exciting times for the Air Force as we confront IT challenges and work through the IT efficiencies. They present huge opportunities and a new way of doing business. We are postured to work with our joint partners and develop solutions to secure information superiority in support of the joint fight. O
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Special Report: NIE 12.2
NIEs Guide Army Tactical Comms The latest Network Integration Evaluation proved the strength of the network as a combat enabler. Following a massive field exercise that proved the network’s strength as a combat enabler, the Army is on the brink of fielding its new tactical communications network to up to eight brigade combat teams. The five-week Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 12.2 in May and June served to validate and finalize the makeup of Capability Set (CS) 13, the Army’s first package of network components, associated equipment and software that provides integrated connectivity from the static tactical operations center to the commander on-the-move, and to the dismounted soldier. Soldiers will begin training on the new equipment in October. The CS 13 network, Army officials say, will give U.S. forces a significant advantage over adversaries by enhancing situational awareness, improving maneuverability, speeding decision cycles and connecting soldiers at the lowest level with one another and their higher headquarters. “There are two big things this capability set is going to do,” said Brigadier General John Morrison, director of the Army G-3/5/7 LandWarNet-Battle Command Directorate. “The first one is mission command on-the-move—so now truly wherever the commander is, that is the command post, because the network is mobile with the commander. The second big piece is that we’re going to connect soldiers to the network. We’re going to be able to know where all of our troopers are down to the dismounted level, pass information on where the bad guys are, and then engage as appropriate. And just as important, all that capability will be integrated.” Capability Set 13, which will be fielded to up to eight infantry brigade combat teams during the next year, delivers an integrated network solution capable of supporting mission command requirements for the full range of Army operations. It addresses more than 10 validated operational need statements submitted by theater combatant commanders. The capability set was validated by the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division (2/1 AD), the first unit equipped with the set and the unit that executes the semi-annual NIEs at Fort Bliss, Texas, and White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Stretched across more than 100 miles of punishing terrain, the 3,800-soldier brigade fought a rigorous, intelligence-driven operational www.MIT-kmi.com
By Claire Heininger Schwerin scenario against a battalion-sized opposing force. Facing a hybrid threat comprising conventional forces, insurgents, criminals and electronic warfare, 2/1 AD executed combined arms maneuver, counterinsurgency and stability operations.
Hybrid Threat Environment NIE 12.2 was the largest NIE accomplished to date, as well as the first full brigade-level validation of CS 13 network architecture conducted in a hybrid threat environment. The exercise also accomplished three program tests for record and evaluated 35 government and industry systems under evaluation. NIE 12.2 marked the first unit equipped with CS 13 baseline systems throughout the brigade combat team (BCT) and established the CS 13 baseline that will be fielded starting in October. In addition, the NIE completed the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 initial operational test and evaluation and marked significant vehicle integration across the BCT, with more than 350 vehicles integrated with CS 13 baseline systems, including infantry BCT, Stryker BCT and armored BCT platforms. “This is really the first time that we had the entire BCT kitted out with the integrated network baseline, so it was really the first time across the entire formation we had an operational network and were conducting missions,” Morrison said. “And because of that, we’re able to now take a look at that integrated network baseline and really figure out where we need to tweak the architecture to enable mission command.” The integrated package of radios, satellite systems, software applications, smartphone-like devices and other network components supported 2/1 AD as the unit spread across the desert and mountains to complete its mission. As soldiers fought to secure the fictional country of Attica, which confronted an incursion by the army of a neighboring country and an insurgency, the network allowed the brigade to rapidly pass information within and across echelons. Directing the fight from Fort Campbell, Ky., was the 101st Airborne Division, acting as the higher headquarters for 2/1 AD and a virtual sister brigade. Just as it would in combat operations, the division MIT 16.7 | 21
commanded and coordinated across subordinate elements, which included 2/1 AD at White Sands, the 1st Sustainment Brigade at Fort Riley, Kan., and a “simulation brigade” that was notionally fighting alongside 2/1 AD to provide added realism and network traffic. NIE 12.2 was the first time Army planners incorporated the role of higher headquarters into the NIE. Another critical achievement with NIE 12.2 occurred as the Army was able to employ all early phases of the Agile process prior to the NIE start, including using new laboratories at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., to their full capability conducting assessments and mitigating risk prior to executing the NIE. (See MIT, May 2012, page 20.) Compared with the previous two NIEs, when more troubleshooting occurred in the field, the process for 12.2 allowed the 2/1 AD “to run more threads and more execution, and give the Army better feedback on the system as a whole,” said Colonel Dan Pinnell, the brigade commander. While there are still elements of the network that can be improved, Pinnell said, giving the systems a realistic tryout has produced valuable information that the Army can now act on. “The soldier’s voice is coming out now, finally, directly to senior leaders,” he said. “I’m very happy with the quality of feedback the soldiers are providing.” The Army is also listening to feedback from industry. Private companies play a critical role in the Agile process by bringing forward emerging technologies for evaluation at the NIE to determine whether they meet the Army’s defined capability gaps. In response to
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industry feedback following the first two NIEs, the Army is now taking several steps to ensure participating companies see a tangible return on investment. The Army is also working processes to help lower the bar for small businesses to participate in NIE. These include taking steps to potentially buy prototypes when multiple systems are needed for evaluation, instituting methods to offset labor and field service representative costs, and working with the Army’s science and technology community to explore small business grants and development agreements to help offset small business costs.
Process Streamlining In addition, the Army has written and is in the process of approving an Agile process standard operating procedure that will explain exactly how the Army plans to acquire mature technologies demonstrating operational relevance against existing capability gaps. That will allow it to move more quickly to acquire and field technologies that clear the threshold at NIE. “We need to streamline these processes so we can go buy something quickly, especially information technology,” said Brigadier General Dan Hughes, Army director of system of systems integration. “If you’re looking at an 18-month procurement, you’re two generations off. I always tell folks, look at your cell phone. If your cell phone is two years old, it’s time to get a new cell phone.” Interest from industry continues to grow. While 43 companies were interested in participating in NIE 12.1, 105 companies sought to participate in NIE 12.2, and 146 companies are seeking to participate in NIE 13.1 this fall. NIE 13.1 will conduct four program tests for record at Fort Bliss and White Sands, plus three more from distributed sites, and evaluate 24 systems under evaluation. Key NIE 13.1 network-related goals include initial evaluations of the Capability Set 14 integrated network baseline, integration and assessment of CS 14 onto heavy platforms and continued network operations (NETOPS) convergence. NIE 13.2 is expected to feature the final NETOPS baseline and assessments of operations-intelligence convergence. By then, synchronized fielding efforts for CS 13 brigades will be well underway. The delivery of CS 13 marks a significant increase in capability over theater-provided network equipment—both for commanders’ decision-making and situational awareness of the battlefield, Hughes said. “This allows us to have a greater communications capability at every echelon, from individual soldier to the battalion to the brigade combat team,” he said. “They have communications that we never envisioned 10 years ago.” O Claire Heininger Schwerin is a staff writer for Symbolic Systems, supporting Army network modernization strategic communications (Program Executive Office Command, Control and CommunicationsTactical and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, System of Systems Integration Directorate).
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Special Report: NIE 12.2
On-the-Move
Transformation
Test of WIN-T Increment 2 highlights ability to push and pull large files and big pieces of data to mobile units in the field. During the major operational test for Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2, the second generation of the Army’s tactical communication network backbone, Colonel Daniel Pinnell was able to command his troops from the front seat of his point of presence (PoP) vehicle, instead of being tethered to his brigade command post far from the edge of the battlefield. The PoP is a WIN-T Increment 2 configuration item to be installed on select platforms at division, brigade and battalion echelons. It enables mobile mission command by providing on-the-move network connectivity, both line-of-sight (terrestrial) and beyond line-of-sight (satellite). “[It’s an] incredibly fast ‘pipe’ for pushing and pulling large files and big pieces of data,” said Pinnell, commander of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division (2/1 AD), the maneuver unit for the test. “All of that ‘pipe,’ as we call it, allows me to push and pull very critical information—to see it and use it. That’s pretty darn impressive.” The three-week WIN-T Increment 2 initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) www.MIT-kmi.com
was conducted in May, with the main effort held at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), N.M., as part of Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 12.2. To truly stress and test the system, WIN-T Increment 2 nodes were also spread across 2,000 miles. At Fort Campbell, Ky., more than 1,300 miles away from the evaluations at WSMR, leaders of the 101st Airborne Division acted as higher headquarters issuing orders, via WIN-T Increment 2, to the WMSR-based brigade as it conducted operations. For the first time, the brigade leadership was able to download orders and send critical information to division headquarters while on the move in WIN-T Increment 2 equipped vehicles. During the event, Pinnell was able to increase his personal situational awareness through on-board mission command tools that enable reporting to come in from subordinate units on the battlefield in near real time. He often kept three chat rooms open simultaneously to watch his three primary units in action, he said, and also used a mapping function on board his PoP, which showed him where each of his individual
By Amy Walker soldiers, equipment or vehicles were located at any given time. “It has improved my situational awareness,” Pinnell said. “I can absolutely see this as being a major value added for commanders. It gave me a huge leap in understanding of where I was and I can use my prior experience with the enemy to guess where he would be and get there in front of him.” Similar to a home Internet connection, WIN-T Increment 1 provides soldiers with high-speed, high-capacity voice, data and video communications down to battalion level units at the halt. WIN-T Increment 2 introduces networking radios, enhances Network Operations (NetOps) for network planning and monitoring, pushes capability to the company level and supports operations while on the move. It is a vital piece of Capability Set 13—the first integrated group of network technologies out of the NIE and Agile process that will be fielded to eight Army brigade combat teams starting in October 2012. “WIN-T Increment 2 puts equivalent capability into mobile platforms, down to the company level, that had previously only MIT 16.7 | 23
Special Report: NIE 12.2 been found in fixed Command Posts at battalion and above,” said Lieutenant Colonel Robert Collins, product manager for WIN-T Increment 2 and 3. “Commanders on the battlefield from division down to company will be able to share a common operating picture and have greater capability to reliably send and receive critical information in near real time, which can often mark the difference between mission failure and success.”
MIssion Command Applications Among the on-the-move mission command applications leveraged by WIN-T Increment 2 during the IOT&E were Tactical Ground Reporting, a multimedia, patrollevel reporting system; Command Post of the Future, which provides a collaborative common operating picture; and Joint Capabilities Release, the second generation of Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below, which tracks friendly and enemy forces on a geospatial imagery map. From the front seat of their own vehicles, commanders were also able to take advantage of enterprise services accessible via the network and chat. Down at the company echelon, the WIN-T Increment 2 Soldier Network Extension (SNE) will be installed on select vehicles to extend the network from the brigade down to the company level for the first time. Using its on-the-move satellite communication systems, the SNE will be used to heal and extend lower echelon tactical radio networks for geographically separated elements blocked by terrain features. The SNE allows the company level to connect into the WIN-T backbone and provide them with bigger “pipes” for more capacity to reliably send and receive messages. “WIN-T Increment 2 will allow units to deploy from the U.S. to an austere location and set up satellite and wireless communication with their units all the way down to the soldier edge,” said Colonel David Wellons, director of the BMC’s Integration Test and Evaluation Directorate, during the IOT&E. With the SNE extended down to the lower echelon radio nets, such as the Wideband Networking Waveform, Soldier Radio Waveform, Enhanced Position Location Reporting System, and Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System, soldiers 24 | MIT 16.7
A soldier from the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division stands before the brigade Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 2 Point of Presence vehicle during the WIN-T Increment 2 initial operational test and evaluation at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Army/Amy Walker]
can now “touch” the communications network backbone. On-the-move platforms at company-level with Army radios can then complete an all encompassing network. To recreate a relevant and current operating environment in which to test the network, IOT&E operations simulated a hybrid threat. Not only did the 2/1 AD have to combat components of conventional enemy forces, but it also had to contend with insurgent and criminal elements with goals and motives of their own. The unit was required to set up tactical network operations; conduct host nation support activities, deliberate attack operations and stabilization; re-establish security operations and eventually withdraw out of the replicated country. The exercise also provided simulated enemy forces with electronic warfare capability to attack the network, on both wireless and wired connections. During the operation, the brigade marched north and attacked from the south, stretching the network across a 100-mile expanse of deserts, grasslands and mountainous terrain. “This free play and being fully immersed is what allows us to get WIN-T Increment 2 and the rest of the systems out there into an environment that puts that proper rigor on everything to get the right shape,” said Colonel Dave Miller, deputy director of the Army’s Brigade Modernization Command (BMC). The IOT&E was the Army’s record test to fully assess the suitability, survivability
and effectiveness of the WIN-T Increment 2 equipment with an operational unit. It will provide the Army with valuable feedback to make any needed doctrine, organization, material or training improvements. The analysis and test results from the IOT&E will be used to support the full rate production decision scheduled for mid-September. A successful decision would allow for the fielding of WIN-T Increment 2 to maneuver units across the Army. “None of these electronic tools replaces human judgment, period, but they are an aid to speed up decision making, to speed up my activities, my navigation and my movement,” Pinnell said. “They can give me that edge I need over my opponent, to see first, see faster, move faster, decide faster, get in front of the enemy and act more decisively. That is really the key of what we are trying to get at here.” O Amy Walker is a staff writer for Symbolic Systems, supporting Project Manager WIN-T, which is assigned to the Army Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical.
For more information, contact MIT Editor Harrison Donnelly at harrisond@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.mit-kmi.com.
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Special Report: NIE 12.2
Command Posts for Companies At NIE, Company Command Post trail boss guided the search for solutions that are scalable, reliable and mobile.
Major Brian Mack is the Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 12.2 Company Command Post (CoCP) trail boss for Product Manager for Command Post Systems and Integration (PdM CPS&I). PdM CPS&I is an organization of Project Manager Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (PM WIN-T), which is assigned to Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T). NIE trail bosses, managed by the Army’s System of Systems Integration (SoSI) Directorate, are the conduits between their assigned 2/1 AD battalion and a workforce of engineers, logisticians, testers, evaluators and industry partners to ensure flawless execution of the evaluations. Their daily activities can include anything from training soldiers and supporting field service representatives to advising leadership on the status of schedules, physical integration, training, preparation and execution of activities associated with each exercise. Mack was interviewed by Amy Walker, a staff writer for Symbolic Systems, supporting PM WIN-T. Discuss the special Command Post requirements of a company as opposed to a battalion or brigade solution. A maneuver company requires a command post that is scalable, supports mobile and short halt operations, and maintains reliability with fewer field support representatives required to sustain it. The main difference between a maneuver company and higher echelon units is the number of personnel in the unit to man a command post (CP) and process information for the commander. Battalion and brigade commanders have authorized staff for each war fighting function to assist the commander to execute mission command. Company commanders do not, so they receive enablers such as a two- to three-soldier communication team from the expeditionary signal battalions and a two- to three-soldier Company Intelligence Support Team. These enablers may help the commander, but they often still need to get additional soldiers from platoons to assist. These soldiers require specialized training typically not associated with their military occupation specialties to operate mission command systems within the CP to support the commander.
with adjacent and higher units. They enhance the commander’s ability to make informed decisions and execute troop leading procedures. During NIE 12.2, the Command Post Systems Integration team supported the integration and fielding of 12 CoCPs. Approximately a dozen systems under evaluation (SUEs) existed within these command posts. A majority of the SUEs focused on which Small Form Factor Very Small Aperture Terminals (SFF VSAT) satellite terminal to field to CoCPs as part of Capability Set 13. SFF VSATs will provide the satellite transport necessary to conduct beyond-line-of-sight (satellite) communications at the company level. Other systems evaluated focused on mobile power and infrastructure requirements such as on board vehicle power and an air beam tent sponsored by Project Manager Mobile Electric Power. How is having mission command systems at the company level going to change the way the Army fights on the battlefield? Mission command systems at the company level allow the commander to anticipate and see the enemy first. That commander can use this initiative to defeat the enemy. Proper use of information or intelligence provided by these systems often expands a commander’s options to deal with a situation on the battlefield. These systems should enable, not overwhelm, squads and platoons operating at the tactical edge of the battlefield. These systems not only help us see the enemy first, but they also help us see ourselves or our allies. This improves coordination and logistics on the battlefield and reduces risk of fratricide to friendly coalition forces. Discuss “jumping” the command post at the company level and the importance of mission command on-the-move during the jump.
What are the basic elements of a CoCP and what was the difference between the various CoCP solutions at NIE 12.2?
Each company jumped anywhere from three to six times during the evaluation. This was important to validate maneuverability requirements of not only individual systems, but the capability as a whole. The most limited resource on the battlefield is time, so it’s important that units are not burdened with non-value added activities to set up and employ systems. With limited personnel at the company, the need for speed is magnified. WIN-T Increment 2, the Army’s tactical communications network backbone, provides a company commander with on-the-move mission command, but his command post should be flexible and scalable to support mission command throughout any operation. O
The basic elements of a company command post include infrastructure, power, beyond-line-of-sight communications, tactical radios and mission command systems. These elements combined should provide a commander a complete picture of his battlespace that can be shared
For more information, contact MIT Editor Harrison Donnelly at harrisond@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.mit-kmi.com.
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MIT 16.7 | 25
COTSACOPIA
Commercial Off - the - Shelf Technology
Combat Radio Delivers Coverage, Audio Clarity The SRX 2200 Combat Radio from Motorola Solutions is a ruggedized, reliable two-way radio specifically designed to enhance warfighter safety and productivity by delivering greater coverage and improved audio clarity for intra-squad communications. The next generation of an AN/PRC-153 Integrated Intra-Squad Radio by Motorola that already is deployed by the Marine Corps, the SRX 2200 combines the easy-to-use ergonomics of Motorola’s advanced APX series portables with the scalability of a COTS platform. The result is a reliable and affordable solution for public safety, base training, and tactical or special operations. The SRX 2200 is backward and forward compatible with all Motorola mission-critical radio systems, including the Project 25 standard for interoperability. With an 80 dB receiver, the SRX 2200 has greater coverage and improved audio quality compared to other radios in its class. The SRX 2200 is compliant with Department of Defense standards for waveform and encryption and meets Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 Level 3 security, allowing for deployment in the most sensitive operations.
Compiled by KMI Media Group staff
Defense-Grade Security to Enhance Mobile Devices General Dynamics C4 Systems has announced plans to integrate its defensegrade cyber and information security technologies into the family of Samsung Approved for Enterprise (SAFE) smartphones and tablet computers. These SAFE devices will also be upgraded with the new Samsung Secure Android
platform, and are designed to deliver a cost-effective commercial solution for a wide range of military and other customers. The secure technologies that General Dynamics will integrate into the Samsung products are similar to those trusted to protect information classified from the Secret level and below for
the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, federal agencies and coalition partners. The enhanced Samsung products should be available by mid-2013 and will be sold by General Dynamics and through government contract vehicles such as the General Services Administration.
Tactical Radio Increases Bandwidth Capability A new version of the Ultra High-Capacity Radio (HCR) from Ultra Electronics, TCS, is now capable of 400 Mbps of bandwidth throughput. The HCR is a small formfactor and highly ruggedized tactical radio that delivers high bandwidth throughput over long distances using point-to-point microwave wireless technology. The radio’s dramatic increase in bandwidth capability over previous-generation radios is expected to accelerate the adoption of handheld devices and next-generation applications at the tactical edge, a key trend within many militaries around the world. The new radio’s much smaller form factor
requires fewer assets to deploy and less logistical support than previous generation high-capacity line-of-sight (HCLOS) radios, providing users with secure voice, data, video and sensor backhaul communications in difficult, hard to reach operating environments. The HCR incorporates and improves on the best features of Ultra’s battle-proven AN/GRC-245 and AN/GRC-512 radios to form a new platform that can perform multiple roles. The single box mast mount radio supports the roles of a HCLOS radio relay, including spectrum efficiency and long range waveforms, as well as a true full-band electronic counter-countermeasure radio relay.
Lightweight Tablets Meet Demand for Greater Portability The Armor X7et and Armor X7ad from the Tactical Systems division of DRS Technologies, a Finmeccanica Company, are new, thin, lightweight tablets based on customers requesting even more portable computers. These sleek, 7-inch multi-touch tablets shatter the perception of bulky, rugged computing and offer field service workforces the ability to choose between the Android OS and Microsoft Windows platform. The Armor X7et is a Windowsbased tablet that weighs just under 1.5 pounds and provides six hours of battery life. It features an Intel Atom Z670 processor and runs Microsoft Windows 7 Professional. Its Android counterpart, the Armor X7ad, weighs 1.3 pounds and operates for up to eight hours. It features a NVIDIA Tegra 2, 1.0Ghz dual core processor and operates on Android v3.2. Both lightweight tablets feature a 7-inch outdoor-readable multi-touch screen display. They are certified to MIL-STD 810G for extremes in temperature, vibration, shock and four-foot drops, and have an IP65 rating for ingress protection.
26 | MIT 16.7
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Calendar August 14-16, 2012 TechNet Land Forces—East Baltimore, Md. www.afcea.org
September 17-19, 2012 Air and Space Conference and Technology Exhibition National Harbor, Md. www.afa.org
NEXTISSUE
September 2012 Volume 16, Issue 8
Cover and In-Depth Interview with:
Lt. Gen. Susan Lawrence
Army Chief Information Officer/G-6 Features • • • • •
Big Data Airborne Networks Long-Term Evolution Mobile Forensics Multi-Band Antennas
Insertion Order Deadline: August 31, 2012 Ad Materials Deadline: September 7, 2012 www.MIT-kmi.com
MIT 16.7 | 27
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW
Military Information Technology
Tim Collins Federal Sales Director Panasonic for Government Q: What types of products and services does your company offer to military and other government customers? A: If you’ve been on the battlefield in the past decade, there’s a good chance you’ve worked on a Panasonic Toughbook computer. Panasonic is a leading supplier of rugged mobile computers for the military, civilian law enforcement agencies, field service employees and other workers whose jobs put them in tough conditions. Our computers are designed to provide the rugged reliability to survive drops, falls, spills, sand, grime and extreme temperatures. Built with this same storied engineering foundation and reliability are Panasonic’s other products for public and private organizations. Earlier this year, Panasonic went through a corporate realignment to sharpen its focus on offering unified, integrated vertical market-specific technology solutions all designed to work together to drive value. Through one vendor, government customers now can make investments in mobile computers, such as Toughbook laptops and Toughpad tablets; audiovisual equipment including flat-panel displays, projectors and professional video equipment; security systems; business phones; document management tools, including printers, scanners and copiers; and other technologies. Q: How is your company different from its competitors? A: Budget cuts have become the new normal, and every government department has entered an age of austerity that isn’t ending any time soon. The cost of purchasing any type of technology must be weighed against countless other priorities. With this in mind, government customers want reliable technology that is going to provide the highest return on investment possible. You want a partner who can help choose integrated technology solutions that are greater than the sum of their parts. You want to do business 28 | MIT 16.7
with a company that takes care of its customers, including offering some of the longest standard warranties available, 24/7 lifetime support and rapid turnaround times on repairs if needed. You understand that quality matters, and you know the difference between the price of a product and its value. Toughbook computers have been used by our forward-deployed warfighters for in-theater operations for more than a decade. As an integral part of their systems and tools, reliability is critical to their mission. Q: Are you currently developing new products and services relevant to military and government customers that you hope to bring to the market in the future? A: Since we began development of the first standard form-factor rugged PC in 1993, Panasonic has been a leader in innovative technology for the military and other government customers. We were the first to integrate CD-ROMs into laptops, the first to deliver 3G wireless with support for EDGE/HSPA and EV-DO in a laptop computer, and the first to offer a rugged convertible tablet PC. In 2012, we are the first to offer a tablet computer using the Android operating system built for the rugged demands of government use. The Toughpad tablet is developed from the inside out to offer the same ruggedness, security and quality as a Toughbook laptop, along with the mobility and flexibility of an Android tablet.
The Toughpad A1 tablet, available now, has a 10-inch, daylight-viewable screen; security embedded at the hardware level with FIPS 140-2 compliance; 4G mobile broadband; integrated cameras; a replaceable battery; and a stylus and active digitizer, enabling flexible data entry in the field. The Toughpad B1 tablet, available later this year, will offer these same features in a 7-inch format for users where mobility and portability are critical. Our military customers have asked us for a tablet that is made to address the needs of the 21st-century soldier—offering the features that professional users require as well as the durability to excel in extreme environments. The Toughpad is our answer. Panasonic’s excellent efficiency in the design-and-build process allows us to respond to the specific needs of our government customers. Q: How do you see military information technology evolving in the next few years? A: This year will be a turning point for mobile technology, and a good indicator of things to come for the military market. Mobile technology, including laptops, tablets and smartphones are becoming the norm, with desktop computers increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Worldwide, analysts are predicting this will be the first year that mobile computers and smartphones will surpass PCs in both spending and shipments for the first time ever, as well as the first time that mobile data network spending will exceed fixed data network spending. The growth of mobility is a seismic shift in how humans interact with information technology, and we’ll see the same trend reverberate in the government space. The service members of today and tomorrow are used to having real-time data at their fingertips wherever they are—on a flight deck, in a military vehicle or in combat. It’s up to government technology providers to meet that demand with dependable, high-quality rugged and tough products. O www.MIT-kmi.com
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Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Core, Intel vPro, Core Inside and vPro Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Toughbook notebook PCs are covered by a 3-year limited warranty, parts and labor. To view the full text of the warranty, log on to panasonic.com/toughbook/warranty. Please consult your Panasonic representative prior to purchase. Panasonic is constantly enhancing product specifications and accessories. Specifications subject to change without notice. ©2012 Panasonic Corporation of North America. All rights reserved. Controlling_the_air_ FG_FY12-2
SOLUTIONS FOR U.S. AIR FORCE