Information assurance trends in vulnerabilities, threats, and technologies

Book excerpt: One of the missions of the Center for Technology and National Security Policy at National Defense University is to study the transformation of America's military and to explore the consequences of the information revolution. To further this mission, National Defense University, in collaboration with The Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise of the University of Maryland's School of Public Affairs, brought together leaders in the fields of military and commercial technology. The purpose of the meeting was to gain insight into the risks and vulnerabilities inherent in the use of information technology on the battlefield and in military systems. This volume presents the results of that workshop. This volume examines threats and vulnerabilities in the following four areas: (1) physical attacks on critical information nodes; (2) electromagnetic attacks against ground, airborne, or space-based information assets; (3) cyber attacks against information systems; and (4) attacks and system failures made possible by the increased level of complexity inherent in the multiplicity of advanced systems. Chapters are as follows: "Trends in Vulnerabilities, Threats, and Technologies," by Jacques S. Gansler and William Lucyshyn; "Physical Vulnerabilities of Critical Information Systems," by Robert H. Anderson; "Physical Vulnerabilities Exposed at the National Training Center," by Colonel John D. Rosenberger; "Dealing with Physical Vulnerabilities," by Bruce W. MacDonald; "Vulnerabilities to Electromagnetic Attack of Defense Information Systems," by John M. Borky; "Vulnerabilities to Electromagnetic Attack of the Civil Infrastructure," by Donald C. Latham; "Trends in Cyber Vulnerabilities, Threats, and Countermeasures," by Michael A. Vatis; "Enhancing Cyber Security for the Warfighter," by Sean R. Finnegan; "Complexity of Network Centric Warfare," by Stanley B. Alterman; and "Difficulties with Network Centric Warfare," by Charles Perrow.