US Navy to Train Up a Hacking Team

The US Navy is planning to create its own team of “ethical” sailor-hackers.

In a job posting, the Navy outlined its requirements for the Ethical Hacker program, an intensive five-day course that will take place June 6-10 in San Diego. It’s looking for 34 bodies to fill the seats, to undertake training administered by the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants or an authorized partner.

The course consists of a combination of lectures, team activities and case studies followed by beyond-site certification testing.

According to the Navy, a certified ethical hacker “is a skilled professional who understands and knows how to look for the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in networks and/or computer systems and uses the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker upon request from an organization. The certification is for individuals who are responsible for securing (or testing the security of) computer networks.”

The military has ramped up its cyber-plans of late—sometimes in disturbing ways. Last fall, according to government contractors and former Pentagon officials, computer code and cyber-weapons capable of killing adversaries will be developed under a new half-billion-dollar military contract.

These cyber weapons will allow US troops to launch “logic bombs,” instead of traditional explosives, which essentially would force an enemy’s critical infrastructure to self-destruct—likely with the loss of human life.

Sources told Nextgov that the contract is the main part of an upcoming $460 million U.S. Cyber Command project, which will outsource “cyber fires" planning, as well as "cyberspace joint munitions" assessments to contractors. Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are among the major defense firms expected to compete.

Earlier this year, the Pentagon announced what it called "the first cyber bug bounty program in the history of the federal government.” Essentially, the Department of Defense is inviting hackers to test the department’s cybersecurity profile.

The Hack the Pentagon initiative is a pilot program that will use commercial sector crowdsourcing to uncover vulnerabilities and probe around for flaws on the department’s public webpages. According to a list published by the Defense Department, it currently manages 488 websites, which are devoted to everything from the 111th Attack Wing and other military units to the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program.

Photo © Everett Historical

from http://ift.tt/1TMcnsc