As war becomes a high-tech business, the burgeoning fields of internet security and cyberwarfare are driving a change in the United States military. Rear Admiral William E. Liegher, a 1980 graduate of USM and cyberwarfare expert, spoke on these subjects in a series of engagements at USM Tuesday and Wednesday, March 8 and 9.
A native of Appleton, Maine, Leigher said he came to USM for the urban environment. After graduating he said he was not satisfied with the jobs he was getting and decided to join the Navy. “There was some naval tradition in my family, so I talked to those relatives and made up my mind to join,” he said. He said he never planned to make the Navy a career, but that he is happy with how it has turned out.
Leigher is Deputy Commander of the U.S. 10th Fleet, also known as the U.S. Fleet Cyber Command. According to Leigher, the fleet is involved in defending and operating Navy networks, working with the US Cyber Command and planning how to use internet technologies offensively. Previously Leigher worked as a code-breaker.
U.S. Cyber Command, commonly known as USCYBERCOM is comprised of forces from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. It was created in 2009. According to the U.S. Defense Department’s website, USCYBERCOM’s job is to “direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks” and “conduct full-spectrum military cyberspace operations,” as well as “to ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries.”
Although Leigher said the Navy is confident in the security of its networks against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and similar tactics, there is some concern about spying. Leigher said the biggest cyber-threat to America comes from countries using the internet to steal secrets and to spy. “It’s much different from the Cold War,” he said. “You don’t need an actual spy. There is so much information [online].”
Leigher spoke to USM students about the challenges of big data networks, internet security at USM, the importance of technology in America’s future and his experience in the Navy. A former political science major, he conducted a question and answer session with current USM poli-sci undergrads. He discussed the challenges of big data networks with computer science students and also held a round table discussion with students in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Program.
Leigher said he wanted the community to know that cybersecurity is a constantly changing world. “We’re never going to find the magic piece of software or hardware to make a system secure,” he said. “We can’t depend on a single solution.”
Currently, Leigher said that offensive cyberwarfare is “not really practical,” but he said he believes that in the near future the U.S. will develop the capabilities to neutralize targets such as disabling airplanes’ ability to fuel. This, he said, will help lower reconstruction costs by neutralizing instead of destroying and prevent the loss of human life.
Leigher said the Navy soon hopes to use computer programs to look for “asymmetric patters” so that, unlike in the Gulf War, the U.S. may be able to make their attacks more random and make it harder for the enemy to prepare for what is coming next. Currently, the Navy is involved in other defensive activities including supplying technical support for the Navy, cracking encrypted messages and securing the Navy’s section of the Global Information Grid, a term which refers to any and all computers, software or service that contains or transmits Department of Defense information.
Leigher also dismissed rumors that the U.S. military was designing an “Internet Killswitch,” similar to that used by the Egyptian governments during the recent revolution. “Personally, I think, we are better off [without it],” he said. “We get more out of the internet by using its capabilities, connections and by linking analytical groups. Turning it off you are hurting yourself just as much as anyone else.”