US Cyber Command Reveals Plans To Hit Back At Cyber Threats 95
CNet News.com is reporting that the Air Force's Cyber Command has just as much interest in offense as defense. "Air Force Cyber Command (AFCYBER), a US military unit set up in September 2007 to fight in cyberspace, is due to become fully operational in the autumn under the aegis of the US Eighth Air Force. Lieutenant general Robert J. Elder Jr., who commands the Eighth Air Force's Barksdale base, told ZDNet.co.uk at the Cyber Warfare Conference 2008 that Air Force is interested in developing its capabilities to attack enemy forces as well as defend critical national infrastructure. "
I guess this explains a few things... (Score:3, Interesting)
I guess that explains what happened to me?
I got an email from a supply company requesting payment of nearly $15,000 for, I kid you not, 2200 telephones. Apparently, they'd been ordered, purchased and delivered to my former duty station at NCTAMS PAC in Hawaii.
Mind you, they were all delivered to a mailbox that was probably all of 8x3x5 inches. I did the math, and 2200 desk telephones wouldn't have fit inside the whole mail BUILDING, let alone the post box.
Nobody at the base ever saw the order-they would have, since that many phones would have come on 5 pallets-and nobody knew what they heck was going on. Finally, after working with the business owner, it was determined that the owner had been hacked.
The phones went one way, the bill went the other, I got a nervous laugh, the poor business owner got screwed and the military was twirling around going "Wha?! Wha?!? HUH!??!"
Didn't have to pay a cent, though. Wonder how it turned out?
Their Site Made It Really Hard For Me To Apply (Score:1, Interesting)
In a Herculean effort, I succeeded in applying to the Cyber Command just now. But I must say that their website doesn't speak well of their cyber expertise; they make it extremely difficult to figure out how to even apply. The "Join" link on the Cyber Command website [af.mil] just goes to the main Air Force recruiting site [airforce.com], where all I learned is that I'm too old and too fat to join the Air Force. Undaunted, I submitted a question about whether I'd qualify anyway, given that I want to work for the Cyber Command, and gave them a link to my resume.
(I have more than ten years of experience as a software engineer, including embedded, systems programming, and HMI/SCADA. I expect them to be particularly interested in my HMI/SCADA work, as that would be how I'd make things blow up over the Internet.)
Somewhere I found a link to USAJOBS [usajobs.gov] website, where I spent several hours filling out an online resume. They want separate entries for each job one has held, rather than uploading a text resume. They also wanted the name and phone number of every manager I ever had.
But I spent quite a bit of time searching at USAJOBS, and couldn't find any positions that looked like they had anything to do with the Cyber Command.
Back at the Cyber Command website, I found their contact form [af.mil] - which was hard to spot - and which, Lo and Behold! allowed me to specify a recipient of "Employment Inquiries". So I put my resume in there, and pointed out they could find my resume on USAJOBS.
I emailed a buddy who is a civilian software engineer for the Navy, and he told me that most Cyber Command jobs are going to be civilian. So I guess it's OK that I'm old and fat, but I won't get to wear that cool blue Air Force uniform. I imagine I'll also just be flying a desk rather than an electronic warfare jet.