Cyberspace inspection planned for RAF Mildenhall

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Joshua Bohnert
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Cyber Surety officer in charge
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  A pivotal inspection that will grade RAF Mildenhall's ability to conduct operations in the 21st century will begin Aug. 2. Not the oft-feared Operational Readiness Inspection, but an examination that focuses largely on the intangible, fourth dimension of combat: Cyberspace.

The Command Cyber Readiness Inspection is the Defense Information Systems Agency's newest tool to ensure connections to the Global Information Grid are secure.

DISA will scrutinize everything from the security of communication-lines to illegal wireless networks and unauthorized personal electronic devices connected to personal computers. Passing this inspection and keeping 100th Air Refueling Wing and partner units connected to the GIG is currently the 100th Communications Squadron's number one priority.

Failing this inspection would result in RAF Mildenhall's disconnection from e-mail, Internet and other network driven tools we rely on daily.

This inspection will primarily focus on physical security, network assurance and information awareness. DISA will determine if there are any deficiencies or vulnerabilities on networks here. Such vulnerabilities will be classified into categories by DISA inspectors: CAT I, CAT II, and CAT III. CAT I vulnerabilities are considered disastrous and have been the primary focus area for the 100th CS.

A CAT I vulnerability is defined as one "that may result in a total loss of information or that provides an attacker immediate access into a machine, grants privileged user access, bypasses a firewall or results in a denial of service." Fortunately, most CAT I vulnerabilities are within the end-user's control.

Things as simple as never plugging any personal electronic device into your computer, never writing down passwords, never activating the wireless function on your laptop while plugged directly into the RAF Mildenhall network, and making sure to log off at the end of every day will mitigate a large portion of CAT I vulnerabilities.

Together we can meet and exceed DISA's security standards for GIG connectivity, ensure the 100th ARW's success and earn the right to continue operating in the cyber medium.

Editor's note: Capt. David Franklin, 27th Special Operations Communications Operations Flight commander, contributed to this article.