In welcoming attendees to TechNet Land Forces East today, Sen. Barbara Mikulski emphasized that the military and civilian agencies represented at TechNet Land Forces must continue their work to build up the “thin cybersecurity shield,” and that citizens and leaders alike must disabuse themselves of the notion that cyberattacks “are something that will happen in the future.” On the contrary, they are happening with more frequency.

The U.S. Army's Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) is building a prototype network capable of morphing over time to confuse cyber intruders and thwart attacks on military networks. The Morphing Network Assets to Restrict Adversarial Reconnaissance (MORPHINATOR) prototype is scheduled to be available in the 2014 fiscal year and will be capable of pulling a cyber bait-and-switch on unsuspecting network intruders.

Civilian and military leaders had cited urgency in need for bill passage.

A predicted increase in the number and intensity of solar storms is forecast for 2013, and solar weather experts are advising both the public and private sector to make preparations.

Having experienced more than a decade of hot and humid Washington, D.C., summers, I thoroughly enjoyed the pleasant start we experienced this year. Warm temperatures, cooling breezes and clear skies made for delightful days and evenings. It doesn’t get much better than that. Unfortunately, the political climate in no way resembles that pattern. The storm clouds of dissent have moved from the horizon to a perch directly overhead, and there are no clearer skies in the forecast.

"Smart Defence" is a NATO concept and policy that involves national burden-sharing on a broad range of developments, including information technology and cybersecurity. The European Union has a parallel initiative called Pooling and Sharing, and it similarly is aimed at sharing the cost of critical infrastructure. All of this, of course, is driven by the need to modernize, coupled with the global economic crisis, which has reduced defense and security budgets dramatically.

AN INTERNATIONAL GROUP of maritime security experts is working to knit together the latest communications technology to identify small ships bearing nuclear weapons. The goal is to give first responders patrolling the world’s harbors and coastlines instantaneous access to experts to quickly size up possible threats in port or on the high seas.

The U.S. Coast Guard is taking steps to lead the nation's response to changes occurring within the Arctic Circle. Accelerated melting of the polar ice cap, expanded exploration for oil in the Arctic region and the competing territorial imperatives of nations that also are U.S. allies underscore the urgency of Coast Guard officials trying to make their case at a time of diminishing resources.

Budgetary pressures, adversary advances and technology changes all will be compelling major shifts in Western military postures over the next few years. As defense spending is reduced throughout the Western world, a range of adversaries from terrorist groups to nation-states are learning new ways of waging--and possibly winning--wars against the United States and its allies. Their capabilities, as well as those of the developed world, are being driven by the technological revolution that promises continued changes across the spectrum of conflict.

The European Union is trying to bring the defense programs of its 27 member nations into synchronicity before the budget boom is lowered on military spending.