Sunday, March 18, 2012

Security is trump

Even in peacetime, naval communications involve the complex and cumbersome manipulation of difficult technical means and intricate human resources.

...the Navy persisted in its adherence to a communications policy in which 'security' was trump. They steadfastly refused to realize the truism that often it is more important to get information to one's own forces that to withhold it from the enemy. "During the first year of the war'" Morison noted, "the Navy Department laid such a stress on security of communications that they sometimes failed of their essential purpose to communicate."

From
The TENTH Fleet
Ladislas Farago

We still live by the same truism today with cyber security.  Fortunately, the architecture in NGEN will solve all of that.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

NGEN, O RLY?

Mike Lambert said...

Anon @ 8:51 AM

Too transparent a joke? Darn! You saw right through that.

Navy Grade 36 Bureaucrat said...

I see what you did there....

Maybe if we measured performance by how often we were connected and satisfaction at the customer level, we would be doing a better job.

Anonymous said...

But sometimes security and customer satisfaction are diametrically opposed.

seanheritage said...

This discussion always brings me back to GEN McChrystal's response to a question on 60 Minutes regarding the high value he places on communication inclusivity and the security breaches that could result.

"I'm less worried about leaks than I am about the people who don't know what we're trying to, you know, ignorance. So, I think it's a trade off and I think I come down on this side every time."

I concur in your post and firmly believe there is more ignorance in our ranks (myself included) than there needs to be because we err on the side of security.

Anonymous said...

McChystal is an excellent case study mitigating in favor of the tightest security. This magnificent officer was gut shot because he did not sufficiently control Michael Hastings' access to sensitive information, nor the loose and leaky lips of his own most loyal staff. To trust the judgement of a punk-ass reporter like Hastings was surprisingly naive...a failed experiment in open access and getting the message out. "Bite me" indeed.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Gen McChrystal was correct in his statement but he should have had the good sense to keep his opinions to himself, and not to denigrate the CIC in a public arena, even if it was true, the old adage, alcohol was involved, is what did him in. I served under Billy Carter’s brother and found it necessary to keep my mouth shut on numerous occasions.

Navyman834