Organizing for Cyberspace Operations: Selected Issues

• Author: Paul Walker
• Position: Commander, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy; Deputy Director, Office of the Judge Advocate General's Information Operations (Cyber) and Intelligence Law Division
• Pages: 341-361

Organizing for Cyberspace Operations Vol. 89

341

T

Organizing for Cyberspace

Operations: Selected Issues

Paul Walker*

I. INTRODUCTION

he United States dramatically raised the profile of cyberspace operations

as a method of warfare when it announced the establishment of the United

States Cyber Command in June, 2009.

1

As a sub-unified command of the

United States Strategic Command and led by a four-star general, who also

serves as the Director, National Security Agency, Cyber Command ab-

sorbed the responsibilities of two separate, lower-profile organizations:

Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations (JTF-GNO) and Joint Func-

tional Component Command-Network Warfare (JFCC-NW).

2

* Commander, J udge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy; Deputy Director, Office

of the Judge Advocate General's Information Operations (Cyber) and Intelligence Law

Division. The views expressed here are Commander Walker's personal opinion and do not

necessarily represent the views of the Department of Defense, the De partment of the

Navy, the Naval War College or United States Cyber Command.

1

. Memorandum from Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates to Secretaries of the

Military Departments et. al, Establishment of a Subordinate Unified U.S. Cyber Command

Under U.S. Strategic Command for Military Cyberspace Operations 1 (June, 23, 2009),

available at http://fcw.com/~/media/GIG/GCN/Documents/cyber%20command%

20gates%20memo.ashx.

2

. Id. at 1–2.

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342

There were a number of reasons for creating Cyber Command. First,

bringing together JTF-GNO and JFCC-NW eliminated deficiencies and

gaps between those operating Department of Defense (DoD) networks

and those charged with defending the same networks.

3

Second, the newly

realized efficiencies would result in an increased ability to support global

missions with cyberspace operations.

4

Finally, deficiencies and gaps in

DoD’s cybersecurity efforts were identified in response to specific intru-

sion events into DoD networks.

5

Operation Buckshot Yankee, the DoD

response to “the most significant breach of U.S. military computers ever”

in 2008, was a key impetus to the standup of Cyber Command, according

to then-Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn.

6

Although Cyber

Command will “integrate cyberdefense operations across the military”

7

through its mission to “direct the operations and defense of specified De-

partment of Defense information networks,”

8

the command also has the

responsibility for conducting offensive operations in cyberspace.

9

In the ensuing three years, Cyber Command reached full operational

capability on October 31, 2010.

10

As that occurred, countries around the

world established or announced plans to create their own cyberspace

commands. Some, such as China, India and Russia, apparently tied the cre-

ation of their units directly to the creation of Cyber Command.

11

Like the

United States, other countries are establishing such a unit in response to

3

. Conference Brief, Cyber War and International Law, Panel I: An Introduc tion to

Cyber Operations 1 (remarks of Colonel Ron Reed, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)),

http://www.usnwc.edu/getattachment/97cfcf32-5007-4b2c-b1a8-8fb7b8cd2e4f/ILD-C o

nference-Brief-2012.aspx (last visited Sept. 30, 2012).

4

. Id. at 1–2 (remarks of Captain Timothy J. White, U.S. Navy).

5

. Id. at 1.

6

. William J. Lynn III, Defending a New Domain , FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Sept.–Oct. 2010, at

97.

7

. Id.

8

. Fact Sheet, United States Strategic Command, U.S. Cyber Com-

mand (Dec. 2011), http://www.stratcom.mil/factsheets/Cyber_Command/.

9

. See id. The third mission assigned to Cyber Command is “when directed, conducts

full-spectrum military cyberspace operations.”

10

. Id.

11

. See Tania Branigan, Chinese Army to Target Cyber War Threat, GUARDIAN (London)

(July 22, 2010, 2:31 PM), http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/22/chinese-army-

cyber-war-department); Harish Gupta, India Setting Up Cyber Command, MSN NEWS (May

15, 2011, 6:51 PM), http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid

=5160226#page=1; Vice Prime Minister Rogozin Pledges to Set Up Cyber C ommand in Russia,

CNEWS, (Mar. 22, 2012, 3:15 PM), http://eng.cnews.ru/news/top/indexEn.shtml

?2012/03/22/482544.