The IDF is Ready for the Cloud Challenge

Ami Rojkes Dombe 

14/4/2014

http://www.israeldefense.com/?CategoryID=512&ArticleID=2866

The pressure currently exerted by the Israeli government on the IDF to cut the costs of defending the State of Israel has become evident, and at the IDF C4I Division they are eyeing the solutions offered by the civilian market. A "small and smart military"

Brig. Gen. Danny Bren, commander of the Lotem unit 

"Those who adapt – survive," said Brig. Gen. Danny Bren, commander of the Lotem unit at the IDF C4I Branch at the recent international C5I conference produced by IsraelDefense in cooperation with the Association for the Commemoration of the Fallen Soldiers of the IDF Signal Corps, IDF C4I Branch and Ben-Gurion University. "The cyber dimension has led the world into a new cold war. It affects states, militaries and human society as a whole. Our ability to adapt to the new reality stands on three legs – technology, talent and the human capital." 

Brig. Gen. Bren presented as an example the capture of the Iranian arms ship Klos-C last week. According to him, the advance intelligence collection for this operation was based on cutting-edge C4I capabilities, including satellite communication and other means. Additionally, the combined arms cooperation between the IAF, the IDF Navy and the IDF Corps of Intelligence was made possible by to state-of-the-art C4I resources being implemented in the IDF. 

"This is the New Era. For each target, we need to provide the technology that will support the operational processes. Technology is shaping the operational concepts of the IDF," said BG Bren. "The ability to identify a target through surveillance, to be able to create a dialog through video and voice between the helicopter and the warfighter, to obtain a designation for the target on all of the display screens in a synchronized manner, to match suitable precision guided munitions and to close the sensor-to-shooter cycle – that is the future. This is the full utilization of interoperability on the new battlefield." 

IDF Adopts Cloud Computing 

Brig. Gen. Bren addressed several technological aspects that would affect the IDF in the coming years. One of them is the switch to open source code. "In the past, we preferred to develop our own codes. We realized it was a time-consuming process. If the code is out there anyway – why not use it? Admittedly, there are problems. One of them is information security. You must know that you do not allow your enemy into your home. The second problem is licensing. We have created an inter-service open source code community in the IDF named 'Yohanan'. Admittedly, it is not cheaper as far as licensing is concerned, as even open source codes cost money, but the fact that the IDF currently cultivate a community of developers and cooperate with the international community helps complete projects faster," explained BG Bren. 

Mobility is yet another aspect the IDF want and have to develop. "Everything must be readily available. The civilian market presents opportunities and they must be taken advantage of. Commercial technologies should be ruggedized where necessary, and put to use. We want cloud computing too. It is a concept – not a technology. If I wanted to purchase processing power in the civilian market today, I would pay by credit card and that would be it. If you want to establish a similar environment in the military, that will be measured by weeks. In the military, the procurement processes are time consuming and do not allow you to pay for resources according to need. On the outside, you can set a maximum price for a certain resource and obtain it according to the supply on offer. Possibly during the night or during timeframes where there is less demand for the cloud service – we must take advantage of these capabilities." 

Brig. Gen. Bren tossed into the air an interesting question: "Does every resource have to be included in the IDF's infrastructure systems?" He referred to services that are not operational, such as electronic mail, for example. "Why do the IDF have to operate electronic mail or the non-operational telephone network? We want to issue a tender for cloud computing services before the end of this year. You will be surprised how creative we will be. The time for a change has come. We do not have the resources to go on in the same way as before," said BG Bren. 

Along with cloud computing, the IDF are currently unifying the network layer through a project designated "Networked IDF". The objective is to unite the three existing networks (sea, air and land) into a single network. "We strive for a combined arms operational potential. We will not have three separate networks. We will develop a central cloud that links to the clouds of the individual service branches. We will have a single server farm in Beer Sheva for all of the services. Processes will be automated. In the operational world we will develop a cloud of clouds. The objective is to consume administered services – just like it is done in civilian organizations. We will have a joint storage plan for combat support systems. Such a joint plan has already been announced. Additionally, we will establish a central procurement department for all of the IT needs of the IDF. We should be able to control what we spend our money on," added BG Bren. 

At the same time, these statements must be taken "with a grain of salt". The intention of using the resources of a public cloud, like Amazon or Google, in a military organization has not been implemented yet anywhere in the world. Even the project in the context of which the Amazon Company builds a cloud infrastructure (PaaS) for the CIA is still in its infancy and the actual technological implementation is still unclear. The IDF may choose to establish a private cloud, a hybrid cloud where some of the services are administered by the military and others are purchased from a public cloud, or decide to transfer complete environments to an external cloud. As it is a military organization and not a commercial one, the architecture in question is not yet available in the market. It would be interesting to see the planning done by the IDF C4I Branch in this context. 

Brig. Gen. Bren also addressed the field of Big Data: "It is not just a processing, analysis or data fusion capability. It is the ability to forecast, to spot problems of which we are not yet aware. In the cyber age, this is critical. We also look at the social networks. This is a knowledge community that exists out there and we have to see how it may be brought into the IDF, into the learning and decision-making cycle." 

With regard to the field of cyber, it appears that the IDF are betting on technologies for spotting anomalous behavior patterns. As far as Brig. Gen. Bren is concerned, reality has evolved from defense to self-protection, and the threat is real and tangible. "It challenges the availability of the organization and the possibility of implementing our operational capability. If we examine the international information security corporations, we will see that they have evolved, in effect, into civilian espionage agencies. For some time now, they have not been dealing just with information security. They maintain global sensor networks and the information obtained from those millions of sensors enables them to know what's happening even before the government agencies. 

"This year we will continue to see the use of anonymity for the purpose of staging attacks. We will still see signatures, Zero-Day attacks and Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks. We will also have to deal with threats imposed on the supply chain – an activity the security sector avoids tackling". 

Brig. Gen. Bren's statements imply that we need a global intelligence network that would enable governments and military organizations to know what's happening in cyberspace. "It is not just cooperation between states. It should be generally understood and accepted that commercial corporations are leading this field of activity and anyone possessing sensors in the web should cooperate. If we understand what's happening, we will be better prepared and know how to focus our defenses," said BG Bren. "The amount of information is also a factor to be addressed. Everyone will try to look like oranges, and we need systems that will spot the apple under the orange peel, in the external networks as well as in the internal networks. You can no longer hide behind fences and perimeter security systems. We must go out there and confront the enemy outside of our enclosure. We will be looking for such solutions". 

The Sin of Hubris in Cyber 

Along with the compliments Brig. Gen. Bren paid to the local cyber industry during the conference, he raised several important issues. The first issue involves the fact that Israeli start-up companies hasten to make an exit and do not evolve into companies that would hire hundreds and thousands of employees. 

With regard to investments in technological innovation generally and cyber technology in particular, Brig. Gen. Bren described a gloomy reality, "The State of Israel is resting on its laurels. We neglect high-school studies. There are fewer teachers in the various subjects. We invest less in students. Consequently, we would have fewer solutions, less exports, and fewer solutions for the military sector. Israel is ranked 30th in Bloomberg's Global Innovation Index. While the entire world understands that that's where the economy is going, we are marching backwards". 

Regarding the extensive use made by the IDF in the financing method known as BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) in projects associated with the relocation to the Negev, BG Bren stressed that it was not operational leasing. "It is not a loan you take from the private company that implements the project. The objective is to establish a partnership that would provide the IDF with added value with regard to the service consumption aspect." 

Bren also called on the Mayor of Beer Sheva, Ruvik Danilovich, to lower property tax rates for the new bases expected to be built in his city to accommodate the Ofek and Lotem units. "Please lower property tax rates. We are not your captive clients. Following the establishment of the Science Park, property tax rates were not lowered in accordance with the agreement. 

Beer Sheva Municipality stated: "The C4I campus will be founded next to the park and high-tech center in Beer Sheva, making the region the Silicon Valley of Israel, certainly as it joins the national Cyber project of the State of Israel, in accordance with the decision of the Israeli government and the backing of the Prime Minister. 

Relating to the words by Brig. Gen. Bern, his argument is not clear, since the property tax rate for the high-tech park, including the region of the C4I campus is one of the lowest in the country."