Navy Looking to Use EW as Part of Cyber

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert (U.S. Navy)

The Navy is looking to use electronic warfare (EW) for cyber operations, and views the area as a critical future weapons area, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, told an audience at the Credit Suisse/McAleese Defense Conference March 12.

Speaking about the future of the service, Greenert highlighted EW as a field that the Navy needs to emphasize given the increased reliance and opportunity offered by the field.

“Electromagnetic spectrum is also an entryway for cyber,” Greenert said.  “You get into that, and you can get to places and get into networks and you can do some stuff.”

That the services are looking at using the spectrum to access networks is not new, but they have refrained from acknowledging the effort previously.

In January I wrote about a classified Army program designed to test the use of EW access into cyber as deployed on small vehicles.  Spying on networks remotely dates back decades, but using EW to insert data, using it as an “entryway” in Greenert’s words, is just beginning to become a viable technique.

The Navy has long been a leader in the EW area, one of the reasons that the service has played such a critical role in combating improvised explosive devices via jamming and other means.

Zachary Fryer-Biggs
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Zachary Fryer-Biggs

Senior Staff Writer at Defense News
Zach is the State Department correspondent, cyberwarfare, research & development and business reporter for Defense News.
Zachary Fryer-Biggs
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