New Navy Cyber Warfare Squadon shields naval systems from digital sabotage
By First Lieutenant (RM2-T) Daniela Meireles
“This is not a security incident, nor is it a cyber attack,” said CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz on his social media profile, after his company was responsible for the biggest technological blackout the world has ever witnessed. On July 19, a flaw in a security software update for digital systems caused the collapse, affecting everything from banking to health services, suspending flights and knocking out TV signals.
Although sabotage was ruled out, the global community got a glimpse of the consequences of a major cyber offensive. No wonder member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) announced this month the formation of an integrated cyber defense center to share information about possible threats and vulnerabilities in cyberspace, including private civilian infrastructures that support military activities.
Brazil is not far behind in this race. Since 2010, the country has had a Cyber Defense Command (ComDCiber), under the Ministry of Defense and coordinated by the Brazilian Army, and this year, the Brazilian Navy created a Cyber Warfare Fleet, subordinate to the Naval Special Operations Command. Currently being deployed, the new organization will increase the capacity of increasingly automated ship, vehicle and aircraft systems to respond promptly to threats in the cyber domain.
A matter of national defense
“In 2023, Brazil was the country most targeted by hackers in Latin America and the fourth in the world, being the target of 4.8% of attacks. Many of these threats come from criminals, but there are indications that veiled cyber actions of state origin may be at play, characterized mainly as digital sabotage,” warns the Naval Commander of Special Operations, Rear Admiral (Marine) Luís Manuel de Campos Mello.
A recent example of sabotage was the invasion by Russian cyberpirates of the system of Ukrainian telecommunications giant Kyivstar, which affected around 24 million users in December last year. In an interview with the Reuters news agency, the Head of the Cybersecurity Department of the Ukrainian Security Service, Illia Vitiuk defined the action as “a devastating cyberattack, which completely destroyed the heart of a telecom operator”.
Risks of technological dependence
Increasing automation and connectivity make societies even more prone to crises like this. “External technological dependence contributes to increasing threats in various aspects, since we no longer control the entire development and integration cycle of our systems. In this context, the Navy has worked to achieve independence in the integration and development of various strategic projects,” explains Admiral (FN) Campos Mello.
While at the strategic level, the Navy has conditioned its international contracts on the transfer of technology – as in the case of the “Tamandaré” Class Frigates and the Conventionally Armed Nuclear Submarine – at the tactical level, it has created the Cyber Warfare Fleet, which will act exclusively to prevent and combat cyber threats, contributing to other structures that already work in this segment, such as the Communications and Information Technology Directorate and the Navy Intelligence Center.
From the seas to cyberspace
According to the Naval Commander for Special Operations, the Navy has invested in training military personnel to develop its own technology and the new Squadron should centralize both human and material resources, increasing the Brazilian Naval Force’s deterrent capacity. “The Squadron will be responsible for composing single, combined and joint cyber warfare task forces, these actions being carried out at the sites of operations or even remotely,” he says.
Although the Squadron is new, preparing military personnel to fight in cyberspace is nothing new. This year, the Higher Defense School in Brasília (DF) will host the sixth edition of Exercise Cyber Guardian, the largest cyber defense simulation in the Southern Hemisphere. Last year, the training organized by ComDCiber trained more than a thousand professionals from different countries to respond to situations that go beyond the remit of a single government agency.
Synergy with civil society
In May this year, military personnel from the Navy and other Armed Forces also took part in Cyber Flag 24-1, one of the main multinational cyber combat exercises, coordinated by the Cyber Command and the US Department of Defense.
The head of ComDCiber’s Strategic Management Center, Rear Admiral Marcelo do Nascimento Marcelino, says that there are still invitations for training coordinated by countries such as Chile, Japan and the United Kingdom. The initiative is in line with the actions of the Brazilian state, which instituted the National Cybersecurity Policy and the National Cybersecurity Committee in 2023.
“The synergy between the Armed Forces and other government institutions with civil society, academia and the business sector is of fundamental importance. A holistic and collaborative approach encourages the sharing of initiatives and good practices, with a view to increasing the country’s cyber resilience,” says Admiral Marcelino.
Cover: Sailor Shayron Oliveira – Source: Agência Marinha de Notícias