Intelligence Analysis

Defending cyberspace is much like defending any other domain in that it involves the military. What is the military’s role in defending computer networks and carrying out offensive attacks? What are the issues pertaining to this role? Should the military be the only one in the US government carrying out this role? Why or why not? What can other entities add to this role?

**READING NOTES/SOURCES**
Most of you are familiar with the classic “intelligence cycle” – simply put, that cycle explains how intelligence work is accomplished in most modern intelligence services. The cycle includes (1) Requirements (2) Collection (3) Exploitation (4) Analysis (5) Dissemination and (6) Feedback. The SEI Emerging Technology Study (one of our readings, see pages 2 and 3) postulates a somewhat different cyber intelligence cycle – one that focuses on the cyber environment and provides both functional and strategic analysis. The thrust of this “cyber intelligence” cycle is to provide information to further cyber security objectives as well as to ascertain potential cyber threats. It is not a solely technical endeavor but includes information relating to policies, capabilities, and situational awareness.
The other challenge in cyber intelligence is differentiating between the roles of the various parts of the intelligence community who dominate the cyber environment. Most recently, the Department of Defense established the U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) as a sub-unified command under U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). There is also discussion that USCYBERCOM will be converted into a separate command sometime in the near future. The intent was for USCYBERCOM to build upon the cyber platforms established by the National Security Agency (NSA) for its mandate to conduct computer network defense for the U.S. Military as well as future computer network attacks.
While most acknowledge the need for increased cyber capacity building within the U.S. Military, others question whether intelligence collection will be damaged by a military cyber attack capability. This is not unlike other intelligence issues – such as arresting key terrorist suspects and thus potentially exposing HUMINT sources. However, in the cyber arena, we are in a period of flux and as you will read, efforts to establish policies and practices are currently underway.

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