[Infowarrior] - Air Force Halts Cyber Command Program

[Richard Forno]

Air Force Halts Cyber Command Program
By Kim Zetter EmailAugust 13, 2008 | 2:01:58 PMCategories: Cybersecurity

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/08/air-force-halts.html

Cyber_command_af After months touting its intention to be the front  
line for defending cyberspace, the Air Force has suspended plans to  
establish its much hyped Cyber Command program, according to Nextgov.

The program is being halted until new senior Air Force leaders have  
time to review it and determine a focus and direction.

The Cyber Command was courted by governors in several states who all  
wanted the command's headquarters based in their jurisdiction in order  
to benefit from federal investments and jobs that a command center  
would bring. But from the beginning, the program had been marred by a  
vague mission definition "to defend cyberspace" and a lack of focus. A  
defense expert told Wired writer Marty Graham earlier this year that  
the program was full of "gee-whiz flackery."

"They've got the whole thing tarted up, and it's hard to tell what  
they're actually doing," John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org  
told Graham.

Politics may also be behind the suspension. Nextgov reports that the  
Air Force's hard-sell grab to assume the top spot in cyberdefense may  
have rubbed the Army and Navy the wrong way.

Fellow Wired scribe Noah Shachtman, who has been following the Cyber  
Command's progress for a while at his Danger Room blog, independently  
confirmed the program's suspension and places it in context with other  
recent Air Force setbacks.