Lt Gen (Ret) Robert Elder Addresses Cyberspace Challenges

Lt Gen (Ret) Robert Elder (USAF) recently addressed a crowd of approximately 250 during the 8 Mar 2nd Annual Professional Development Luncheon.  The luncheon, hosted by local chapters of the Air Force Association (AFA), Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), Women in Defense, and Cyber Huntsville, was a huge success because of interorganization cooperation.  Our Chapter’s share of the luncheon proceeds will go to support Aerospace Education.

General Elder, the former STRATCOM Joint Functional Component Commander for Space and Global Strike, focused on Cyberspace challenges and opportunities from a warfighter’s perspective.  Distinguished visitors in attendance included:  Dan Tidwell representing Congressman Robert Aderholt; Mark Pettitt and Tiffany Noel representing Congressman Mo Brooks; Deb Barnhart, CEO of the US Space and Rocket Center; Richard Russell, Deputy G2, Army Materiel Command; and, Maj Gen (Ret) Larry Northington (USAF).

The Master of Ceremonies, Brig Gen (Ret) Gary Connor (USAF), recognized all veterans as well as members of three CyberPatriot teams in the audience:  New Century Technology team, coached by Jim Morris; the AFJROTC Huntsville High School team, coached by Lt Col Hollis Bagley; and, the Boaz High School team, coached by Lynn Toney.
According to General Elder, most people focus on the types of cyberspace attacks, such as data corruption, code manipulation malware, worms and virus flooding, backdoor implants, physical destruction, and insider attacks.  He suggested taking a systems engineering approach to looking at targets, as well as their vulnerable points and camouflaging how they look.

General Elder also said “risk management is key to cyberspace protection” and that cyber security should be viewed as an integrated system with more importance placed on internal security since major threats to a system come from internal sources and result from mistakes most of the time.  He said the cyber world operates on the concept of networked systems versus a hierarchical one, and that any node in the network can be a new leader.

Why is Cyberspace important, General Elder asked?  Because, he said, it exists everywhere and provides one with the power to be anywhere at any time.  The challenges are that cyber attacks can also happen anywhere at any time, which is compounded by the fact that attackers tend to be anonymous; and that to be effective, cyber security personnel must change the way they build systems, and those who operate them must change their mindset.  General Elder noted that the only way to stop cyber attacks was to turn the network off.  Fixing this problem, he added, will take greater resources including research funding.  In closing, General Elder urged the CyberPatriot teams to use their powers for good.

A leader in cyber security, General Elder was the first commander of Air Force Network Operations Command and led the development of the cyberspace mission for the Air Force.  General Elder holds a Doctorate in Engineering from the University of Detroit.  He is currently a research professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, where he conducts research in cyber enterprise resiliency and the use of modelling to support national security decision making.