Col. Rivers Johnson reviews statistics (Click to enlarge)
The role of the U.S. Cyber Command is to operate and defend Department of Defense electronic networks, mainly those with the .mil Internet address, Col. Rivers Johnson, the Command’s public affairs officer, told conferees at the 2011 Medill National Security Journalism conference during a PowerPoint demonstration on the scope of cyber protection.
“Technology outstrips law and policy by a long shot,” Rivers said as he detailed the new command’s attempts to address the extraordinary multiplication of Internet messages and addresses.
Rivers said there are
- About 4,000 known websites used by suspected terrorists.
- Routinely about 140 foreign Intelligence organizations attempt to hack into the U.S. defense networks.
- Some 250,000 outside probes into Pentagon and other military servers every day (that’s 6 million times a day).
U.S. Cyber Command employs about 700 persons, roughly split between military and civilian. Their goal is to protect but also to use all the Internet resources available including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and other social media, said Rivers.
Among the “Cyber Environmnent” facts that Rivers laid out in his presentation.
- In 2010, 107 trillion e-mails sent — 294 billion every day. 600 million on Facebook — 72% of internet users.
- 2.9 billion — the number of e-mail accounts worldwide.
- Terrorist groups are active on 4,000 websites.
- 140 Foreign Intelligence organizations are trying to hack into U.S. computers.
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