For a military that increasingly relies on technology, cybersecurity is a huge issue.
There have been breaches from the inside, best illustrated by the case of Bradley Manning, the Army private accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.
And there have been many attacks from the outside.
"We have lost terabytes of data" through intrusions and attacks on defense companies' corporate networks, Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn III said. "A great deal of it concerns our most sensitive systems."
Starting Sunday, the issue of cybersecurity comes to Tampa in a big way as nearly 10,000 military officials, defense contractors and academics flock here for the annual LandWarNet conference. Speakers include Adm. William McRaven, the new head of U.S. Special Operations Command, who will make his first public presentation Wednesday morning since taking over the command from Adm. Eric Olson.
The conference runs through Friday with meetings and exhibits at the Tampa Convention Center.
The conference has evolved during the past few years to become the Army's main conference addressing information technology and the integration of intelligence and communications functions, said Kent Schneider, president and CEO of AFCEA International, which is sponsoring the conference.
"As we have gotten into this world of asymmetrical warfare, with counterterrorism, there is a much greater emphasis in sharing information," Schneider said. With the fight against terrorist groups a global effort, he said, the Army has to share information with other military branches, other government agencies and even other governments.
And as information is shared, it has to be guarded.
Given concerns over WikiLeaks and recent intrusions, "cybersecurity in general will be one of the key priorities in the conference," Schneider said.
"Everything is computerized today," he said. "Energy sources or the financial community or transportation networks, all of those are automated, and they are all part of the critical infrastructure our enemies, particularly terrorist, would love to bring down."
The conference used to be held in Fort Lauderdale, Schneider said, but outgrew the space there. It came to Tampa last year largely because of the presence of Special Operations Command, U.S. Central Command, the Joint Communications Support Element and the coalition partners at MacDill Air Force Base.
"MacDill is fairly unique in terms of folks that are there," Schneider said. "Given recent events, Centcom and Socom are very much in the center of everything."
There have been breaches from the inside, best illustrated by the case of Bradley Manning, the Army private accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.
And there have been many attacks from the outside.
"We have lost terabytes of data" through intrusions and attacks on defense companies' corporate networks, Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn III said. "A great deal of it concerns our most sensitive systems."
Starting Sunday, the issue of cybersecurity comes to Tampa in a big way as nearly 10,000 military officials, defense contractors and academics flock here for the annual LandWarNet conference. Speakers include Adm. William McRaven, the new head of U.S. Special Operations Command, who will make his first public presentation Wednesday morning since taking over the command from Adm. Eric Olson.
The conference runs through Friday with meetings and exhibits at the Tampa Convention Center.
The conference has evolved during the past few years to become the Army's main conference addressing information technology and the integration of intelligence and communications functions, said Kent Schneider, president and CEO of AFCEA International, which is sponsoring the conference.
"As we have gotten into this world of asymmetrical warfare, with counterterrorism, there is a much greater emphasis in sharing information," Schneider said. With the fight against terrorist groups a global effort, he said, the Army has to share information with other military branches, other government agencies and even other governments.
And as information is shared, it has to be guarded.
Given concerns over WikiLeaks and recent intrusions, "cybersecurity in general will be one of the key priorities in the conference," Schneider said.
"Everything is computerized today," he said. "Energy sources or the financial community or transportation networks, all of those are automated, and they are all part of the critical infrastructure our enemies, particularly terrorist, would love to bring down."
The conference used to be held in Fort Lauderdale, Schneider said, but outgrew the space there. It came to Tampa last year largely because of the presence of Special Operations Command, U.S. Central Command, the Joint Communications Support Element and the coalition partners at MacDill Air Force Base.
"MacDill is fairly unique in terms of folks that are there," Schneider said. "Given recent events, Centcom and Socom are very much in the center of everything."
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