https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/the-american-way-of-cyber-warfare-and-the-case-of-isis/
By JD Work
The Atlantic Council
September 17, 2019
Many in the defense community have still not embraced hacking as a combat
mission or the work of securing systems and networks transitioning from
administrative job into warfighting function. This transformation has led to
much theorization and debate, yet as a practical matter remains poorly
understood at the policy level. This is partly is due to linguistic
limitations; the difficulty of agreeing what to name new concepts, and how to
adopt a universal verbiage to describe conflict between humans for centuries.
More substantively, fighting over the confidentiality, integrity, and
availability of digital devices and services occurs in ways that are not easily
observed by those who are not immediately “at the front” with access to network
logs and digital artifacts. Persuasive arguments that offensive cyber
capabilities are the first military innovation developed directly from the
intelligence community imply that cyber operations continue to follow—as Jon R.
Lindsay puts it—“logic of intelligence.” But intelligence as an organization
and an activity is often overwhelmingly secretive, and so too are cyber
operations.
USCYBERCOM’s decision to declassify a series of foundational documents related
to one of its most prominent cyber operations is therefore a unique opportunity
to draw back this veil. The National Security Archive at George Washington
University has done a tremendous service to international relations,
intelligence studies, and defense scholars in pursuing and assembling these
materials. Critically, the Archives work occurred under proper review
processes—in a manner that preserves key intelligence and operational
equities—while offering a unique view into Joint Task Force Ares (JTF Ares) and
Operation Glowing Symphony. This view is by necessity incomplete, but it is a
better picture than passing comments about dropping “cyber bombs,” or stolen
glimpses otherwise offered by unauthorized leaks and pilfered documents. It
presents a record clean of the problematic manipulation of ideologically
motivated defectors, shadowy third parties, and the machinations of hostile
intelligence services.
This Cyber Vault collection illustrates aspects of contemporary offensive cyber
operations that have been understudied and too little recognized. First among
them is the fundamentally corporate nature of the effort. This is not the
hacking of cinema, a lone genius clad in a hoodie and toiling in the dark of
night—or at least a darkened basement. Instead, the documents portray the
mobilization of a bureaucracy akin to Ford Motors, rather than Nikola Tesla.
While this is almost certainly not the first mobilization of its kind, to date
JTF ARES is perhaps the clearest outline of the enterprise. The organization is
a true multiservice contribution: an assembling of key capabilities into a
coherent form directed by the combatant command for specific purposes. It
speaks to years of investment to man, train, and equip the forces outlined in
the Task Order, who are now employed to combat a violent extremist organization
that threatens the United States and its allies.
[...]
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