Being a Cyber Wingman is everyone’s responsibility

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Paul MacDonald
  • 355th Communications Squadron
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  As mentioned in several recent articles, the United States is vulnerable to cyberspace attacks by relentless adversaries. These adversaries are constantly attempting to penetrate our networks and in some cases flood the bandwidth to the point it stops our day-to-day operations.

Here at the 355th Fighter Wing it is the duty of the Information Assurance Office to ensure our cyberspace weapon systems, both unclassified as well as classified, are locked down and unavailable to the many adversaries attempting to gain access. All seven Cyber Surety personnel assigned to the 355th FW Information Assurance Office in one way or another have a very important role in the extremely wide range of responsibilities that are placed upon them to guard the gates to the cyberspace world and to protect the more than 8,000 devices as well as the 6,000-plus personnel assigned to Davis-Monthan.

This is accomplished on a daily basis and is conducted via one of the following six approaches: training, newsletters, policy letters, memorandums of guidance, expert advice and lastly annual program assessments.

These approaches, although not all-inclusive, can be seen in the works with the changes the Information Assurance Office has implemented in the last year. Most recently, the following policy letters have been generated: Cellular Phones with Integral Digital Camera Capability, Government Procured USB Non-Solid State External Hard Drive Approval Process, Contaminated Blackberry Sanitization Process, E-Mail Account Creation and Information Assurance Training Update Process, and Wireless Keyboards Prohibited When Accessing the Network. If you are not familiar with these policies and or have any questions as to what is allowed or not allowed on the network contact your unit Information Assurance Officer immediately.

In accordance with General Norton Schwartz's Letter to Airmen dated June 17, we are all "Cyber Wingmen." With that understanding we all have a critical role in defending our network's information.

Three quick and easy ways to do this, although not all inclusive, would be to first ensure we do not use unauthorized Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices (thumb drives, iPods, MP3 players, cameras, and other types of portable flash media). Secondly, it's important to always manually scan media that is introduced to your computer for viruses. And lastly, ensure that you educate and "QC" one another on all "do's" and "do not's" in relation to those policies and mandates that are in existence and forthcoming.

As with any directive or Air Force Instruction, failure to comply with network security directives may be punishable under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. In addition, personnel may lose their network privileges for an unspecified amount of time. The 355th Communications Squadron has the ability to detect when USB devices are connected to your computer.

In closing, I want to inform all, as the 355th FW information assurance manager, it is not only mine and the information assurance workcenter's responsibility to protect our cyberspace, but it is also the responsibility of all of you as Cyber Wingmen assigned to Davis Monthan Air Force Base to do the same. If there are any questions relating to IA, please feel free to call 228-5314 and pass that question to any of the cyber surety personnel that may answer.