DOD plans network task force

DENVER — The military's top cyberwarrior will unveil a plan in December that gets officials from the services and Defense Department agencies more involved in the new organization that oversees operation and protection of DOD networks.

Under the new plan, officials from the three services, DOD agencies and the unified combatant commands would participate in the Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations (JTF-GNO). More importantly, it would provide a structure and discipline for officials to manage and defend military systems, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege, commander of JTF-GNO. He spoke today at the Government Symposium on Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Transformation: Showing the Way Ahead.

Army, Navy and Air Force officials choose individuals to operate and protect the services' networks, and JTF-GNO needs more services' and defense agencies' components, Raduege said. For example, Maj. Gen. James Hylton serves as the Army's top cyberwarrior as commanding general of Network Enterprise Technology Command from Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

DOD Secretary Donald Rumsfeld created JTF-GNO in June and placed the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Raduege, in command of the organization. Raduege became DISA's director in 2000.

JTF-GNO officials said they have found gradual increases in the number of attempted intrusions on the military's networks during the past three years. They reported 40,076 incidents in 2001, 43,086 in 2002, 54,488 in 2003 and 24,745 as of June 2004. The organization falls under Strategic Command, a unified combatant command and sponsor of the conference.