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of Tailored Access Operations at the National Security Agency, he believes people are America’s number one as- set in the battle to increase resilience of the nation and its cyber infrastruc- ture.
“Every day U.S. military and civilian networks are probed and scanned millions of time,” Metts said. “Whether these groups are charging our military, federal government, private industry, or even you and me, costs are high. Looking at cyber- crime alone, the cost, in 2008, was over $1 trillion spent on repair and loss of intellectual property.” The 2008 incident Metts cited is considered one of the most significant breaches of military computers. “It began when an infected flash drive was loaded into a U.S. military
One on One R
ear Admiral Willie Metts is one of the navy’s top cryp- tologists. Now deputy chief
by CCG Editors
editors@ccgmag.com WILLIE METTS NEEDS YOU FOR CYBER DEFENSE
Members of the audience listen as Rear Admiral Willie Metts delivers remarks at Career Communications Group’s Cyber Security Summit and Career Fair.
laptop at a base in the Middle East,” he explained. “The flash drive’s malicious computer code, placed there by a foreign intelligence agency, uploaded itself into the network run by U.S. Central Command. That code spread undetected on both classified and unclassified systems establishing what amounted to a digital beachhead from which data could be transferred to servers under foreign control.”
Adversaries acquired thousands of files from U.S. networks as well as from the networks of U.S. allies and industry partners, including weapons blueprints, operational plans and surveillance data, critical to the operation of the U.S. military. “It served as a wake-up call to the Defense Department,” Metts said. “Pentagon’s operation to counter the attack known as “Buck Shot Yankee” marked a turning point in cyber defense strategy.”
But the intrusion which led to Operation Buck Shot Yankee was not the only successful penetration. “We are starting to see attacks move from network exploita- tion and the disruption of network functions such as denial of service attacks to possible destruction,” Metts observed. “With destruction, the only way to recover may be to re- place the attacked computer/device or system. Depending upon how long it takes to replace these components could result in a major disruption of critical functions.”
As the escalating scale of cyber warfare threatening na-
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tional security and the economy come into view, the Pentagon continues to build robust defenses around military networks and inaugurated the military organization where Metts serves. As director of intelligence at the U.S. Cyber Command, Metts integrated defense operations across the U.S. military for over 15,000 networks around the globe. “As you can imagine, this is no trivial task and serves as the primary driver of our daily focus at Cyber Command as the threat and cyber war continues to evolve.”
What does this mean for you?
“I believe cyber defense is truly a team sport. I want to en- courage you all to consider joining the team,” Metts urged. “The nation cannot be successful in cyber space without a technically adept, trained and motivated workforce. Whether in the military, government or private industry, success for all of us in cyber space will require everyone to be a bit tech savvy.” Rear Admiral Metts earned a bachelor’s degree in electron- ics engineering technology from Savannah State University in 1985. He also holds a master’s in command, control, communi- cations, computers and intelligence (C4I) from the Naval Post- graduate School, as well as national security studies and strate- gic planning from the Naval War College. Metts was speaking at a two-day event hosted by CACI and Career Communications Group, which brought together cyber-security leaders to discuss advancements and opportunities in information warfare and the field of cyber-security)
USBE&IT I WINTER 2013 13
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