Forwarded From: William Knowles <erehwon@kizmiaz.dis.org>
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE COHEN ESTABLISHES RESERVE COMPONENT WEB SECURITY
CELL
Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen has approved the creation of a
22-member Reserve component team to monitor and evaluate Department of
Defense Web sites to ensure the sites do not compromise national security
by revealing sensitive defense information. The team, called the Joint Web
Risk Assessment Cell (JWRAC), will be comprised of two full-time
Reservists and 20 drilling Reserve and National Guard personnel. The
Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) will start up the cell on March
1, 1999.
"Technology has extended America's reach around the world, and it has
extended the reach of those who seek to threaten Americans at home," Cohen
said. "In joining this new mission area for the Reserve and Guard, the
JWRAC will help us defend against those who would turn our technological
superiority against us."
The JWRAC will scour Defense Web sites for information and trends of data
that could be used to breach security or pose a threat to Defense
operations and personnel. In addition, team members will evaluate Web site
content to ensure compliance with departmental policies, procedures and
best practices.
The new organization is a result of a Sep. 24, 1998 directive from John J.
Hamre, deputy secretary of Defense, to Charles L. Cragin, acting assistant
secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, and Gen. Henry H. Shelton,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Hamre directed that they jointly
develop a plan that uses Reserve forces personnel to conduct operations
security and threat assessments of DefenseLINK and other official military
Web sites.
"This initiative represents both a new model and a Total Force solution
for managing operations security in an environment of rapidly changing
technology," Dr. Hamre said. "It is essential that each of the military
components and agencies get on board so that we can expedite the
implementation of JWRAC and help it fulfill its important mission."
Six Reserve component Services will staff the cell, with a full-time
officer and enlisted member rotating among the military Reserve components
on an equitable basis. The 20 drilling Reserve component positions will be
comprised as follows: Army National Guard, five officers, three enlisted;
Army Reserve, three officers, two enlisted; Naval Reserve, two officers;
Marine Corps Reserve, one officer; Air National Guard, two officers, one
enlisted; and Air Force Reserve, one enlisted.
"With the battlefields of tomorrow moving increasingly into cyberspace,
this is a significant advancement in our efforts to assess risks and
reduce our exposure to cyberterrorism," Cragin said. "The Reserve and
National Guard are ideally suited for this task, because they have a large
pool of talented personnel who in their civilian careers are highly adept
at using computer systems and information technology."
The military services will recruit personnel for the JWRAC who have a
broad range of combat and non-combat specialties, in addition to high-tech
civilian skills. The two full-time staff will provide day-to-day
administrative support, perform operational scheduling and ensure that
training and technical proficiency is maintained. The JWRAC will be
co-located with DISA.
For more information, call Lt. Col. Terry Jones at the Office of the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, (703) 695-3620, or
visit the Reserve Affairs website at http://raweb.osd.mil.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb1999/b02251999_bt076-99.html
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Received on Thu Mar 11 17:28:38 1999