Integrating Cooperative Engagement Capability into Network-Centric Information System Security

Abstract

The U.S. military’s concept of a Cooperative Engagement Capability should serve as a useful referent for those attempting to design/develop large scale, organization-wide information security systems. This concept involves centralizing command over the entire suite of defensive assets (naval, air, ground) available in some region or locale; whenever a threat is directed against any US force element (a ship, an infantry unit, etc.), this central authority would then be expected to direct the deployment of whatever appears to be the most efficient countermeasure…in light of prospective as well as actual threats. This is a dramatic departure from the traditional decentralized approach, whereby each force element was expected to draw on its own defensive measures to counter any threat directed at it from any source. Industrial/commercial organizations might draw on the logic of the Cooperative Engagement Capability logic in devising a system to secure its informational assets.