The Integrated Cyber Defense program is an effort mounted by the Air Force Research Laboratory to prevent cyber attacks on its computer networks.
(Hacking reality in the Matrix)
According to an RFP, "the 'laws' of cyberspace can be rewritten, and therefore the domain can be modified at any level to favor defensive forces." Among the tactics under consideration are making hostile traffic inoperable on Air Force networks, identifying anonymous hackers and enabling Air Force servers to evade attacks.
The Air Force is working hard to ramp up personnel to fight the next cyber war; see this video on the Air Force Cyber Command. Even though the idea of separate directorate has been dropped, people still need to be trained for these jobs.
(Air Force Cyber Command video)
Information Directorate chief Donald Hanson is also interested in finding ways to dodge electronic attacks, rather than figure out new ways to stop them, or lock them out. "A lot of our [defenses] up to now have been about defeating an attack," he says. "We'd rather avoid it altogether." Digital radios communicate today by "frequency-hopping" -- jumping across multiple bands of the spectrum. Perhaps the Air Force's online traffic could do something similar.
It's interesting to note that one of the earliest cyberspace novels is basically a story about a group of hackers ("wizards") who seek to keep themselves anonymous within cyberspace. They try to protect their true names from the government. SF readers of course remember True Names (1981) by Vernor Vinge.
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