This article provides foundations to understand on what basis military build their information security and how they are developing their security architectures.
The architecture of military information security is based on trust. Whom and what you trust to sustain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your information? The basis for trust is found at the physical level. Secret papers have been stored in vaults which are in military camps surrounded by security perimeters.
With computer aided information management, the physical structure vanishes. Encrypted communications and information domains replace it. Air Gap Isolation becomes the major defence against malicious software.
Unfortunately, human negligence and various waveforms can breach the air gap. Thus, some military trust only monitoring. Every host and node in information domain have a sensor that sends information on events and incident to security operation centre, SOC. The SOC monitors the situation and reacts to all violations before they become serious.
Once you are collecting and analysing 50 000 incidents each second, you start demanding a better solution. Military consolidate all their information in data warehouses i.e. services, build an onion-structured security, and start attacking all malicious intentions between layers. This architecture is called defence-in-depth and active cyber defence.
The military is gradually losing their trust on physical, domain, monitor, and service structures. Might the content and real-time validators be the next base of trust? All content is encrypted as default, data can be processed only if a trusted entity validates both content, platform, and user to be true at given time.
There is also evidence that in crises, governmental bodies tend to trust only paper, vault, and manual information management.
This short story, hopefully, illuminates some of the future trends in telecommunications technology covering communications from access to core networks as seen via the eyes of Open Computing Project, Telecom Infra Project, and some other initiatives globally.
Scenario for a Nearby Future
Beyond 2020, there will be 10000 times more traffic, 10-100 times more networked devices, need for less than 1 ms latency, need to have 10 times longer battery life, and need for low-cost machine-to-machine connection – both in commercial and in military networks. What kind of telecommunications technology will address these requirements?
Terminal device
Let’s start with the terminal device. A low cost, extended battery, wide band, expendable – this means that the terminal device shall be a lot simpler and smaller than current mobile phones or combat net radios. As human being becomes a minority in networked society, the communications terminal can be built less expensive. Storage goes to cloud and screen is embedded in sights, goggles, watch, or A5 slide of the paper-like sheet. The communications require cognitive connectivity with other devices nearby. A Wi-Fi-like flat protocol to create access link and IP to create connectivity. Cognitive networking and end to end encryption are enabled by something like defining Facebook friends and other acquaintances.
Access network
Then the access network. Forget the base stations or control stations. Every structure can include an “intelligent access node” . It can be provided by a building, a vehicle, a road, a ship, or a drone flying above you. Everything is connected, so are the structures that provide the access for human or machine terminals.
Core network
All fixed trunk connections need to be provided over an optical cable. Otherwise, the > 10 GE bandwidth cannot be provided cost-efficiently. Thus, the current switching is too expensive, and teleoperator constrained. Solution may be found from Open Packet DWDM network by Telecom Infra Project . Goodbye to your Metro Ethernets, MPLS’s and SDH’s. Simple is the key.
How is the connectivity then created between the endpoints? Open Computing Project is separating network hardware from networking software. Software Defined Network is enabling each session to request needed connectivity services from the network layer residing right on the optical layer.
Defence Network
What keeps the Defence Forces from building an extensive network covering the area of operations for National Defence and provide a national grid for all moving structures thus connectivity to all humans and devices in the battlefield? This can be done as part of building roads, bridges, railroads, electricity lines, sewer pipes, or any building. The commercial sector will provide the simplified technology. The only thing needed is military specific protocols for routing, connection, and encryption.
This story is based on information retrieved from U.S. Patent Office, Telecommunications Infra Project, Open Compute Project and Open Networking Foundation.
