DOD pushing forward on Internet disconnect

Despite criticism it received last year for a proposal to disconnect from

the Internet to bolster security, the Defense Department remains committed

to developing a technical architecture that will allow it to do just that,

DOD's top cyberdefender said.

Links that connect DOD's Non-Classified Internet Protocol Routing Network

with the Internet pose the greatest security challenge, according to Air

Force Lt. Gen. John Campbell, commander of the Joint Task Force for Computer

Network Defense. The NIPRNET is used mainly for administrative communications.

The Pentagon remains committed to closing down "back door" links to

the Internet, said Campbell, who spoke Monday at the second annual Information

Assurance and Battlefield Visualization Symposium, sponsored by the Association

of the U.S. Army and the Association of Old Crows.

However, the Pentagon eventually wants to get to the point where it

can disconnect its entire global network from the Internet if security threats

arise that call for such action, he said.

"We talked about that seriously [during the Year 2000 rollover]," Campbell

said. But before DOD moves forward with the plan, "we need to understand

the operational impact of doing that," he said.