America's Cyber War Against ISIS
The Department of Defense is adding coders and computers geniuses to its list of needed personnel. On Tuesday, the head of Cyber Command told Congress that his unit should be elevated to be a fully independent command.
“Today we have 27 teams that are fully operational, and 68 that have attained initial operation capability," Admiral Michael Rogers, head of Cyber Command and the NSA, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "It's important to note that even teams that are not fully operational are contributing to our cyberspace efforts, with nearly 100 teams conducting cyberspace operations today. For example the command continues to support U.S. Central Command's ongoing efforts to degrade, dismantle, and ultimately defeat ISIL ”
The admiral's testimony comes as Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that he had given Cyber Command "it's first wartime assignment" in Iraq and Syria. Carter has hinted that the military is attacking ISIS online, but now he is drawing attention to these cyber offensives.
What would a cyber war against ISIS look like? For answers, we turn to Shane Harris, senior correspondent for The Daily Beast and author of “@War: The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex.”
What you'll learn from this segment:
- How Cyber Command's mission has changed since it started in 2009.
- What a cyber attack against ISIS really looks like.
- How technology is changing the state of war and the future of the military.
