Defense Department adopts new definition of 'cyberspace' By Christopher J. Castelli Inside the Air Force May 23, 2008 More than two decades after novelist William Gibson coined the term cyberspace as a “consensual hallucination” of data experienced by billions of people worldwide, the Pentagon is adopting a less poetic definition. A May 12 “for official use only” memo signed by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, titled “the definition of cyberspace,” offers a 28-word meaning for the term. Sister publication Inside the Pentagon reviewed a copy of the memo, which was not intended for public release. Cyberspace, England writes, is “a global domain within the information environment consisting of the interdependent network of information technology infrastructures, including the Internet, telecommunications networks, computer systems, and embedded processors and controllers.” The unclassified definition is taken from a classified directive signed Jan. 8 and called the National Security Presidential Directive 54/Homeland Security Presidential Directive 23, according to the memo. It is a far cry from the prose Gibson used in his 1984 novel “Neuromancer” to describe cyberspace: “A graphic representation of data abstracted from banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding.” During the 1990s, the author’s buzzword became synonymous with the Internet. Today, no single U.S. military command controls Pentagon operations in cyberspace. “Because all combatant commands, military departments and other defense components need the ability to operate unhindered in cyberspace, the domain does not fall within the purview of any one particular department or component,” the memo states. The definition will “serve as the foundation” upon which DOD will “further mature this warfighting domain,” England writes. The Pentagon is not done wrestling with what it means to operate in cyberspace. The policy shop in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff are studying the issue over the next two months. “In order to man, train and equip the forces, and mature our capabilities to operate in cyberspace, a further clarifying definition of what constitutes cyberspace is needed. OUSD (Policy) and the Joint Staff will lead an effort to define operations in cyberspace and provide the office a recommendation within 60 days,” England writes. The cyber domain is also a focal point for the Pentagon’s upcoming roles and missions analysis, according to a draft terms of reference reviewed by ITP. DOD will mull how to organize for policy development, operations and oversight for the cyberspace mission. Other key questions concern how spies and warfighters will share the mission, finding the right balance between offense and defense and ensuring DOD acquires the right capabilities. England’s memo is not the first time the U.S. government has tried to define, or redefine, cyberspace. “Cyberspace is composed of hundreds of thousands of interconnected computers, servers, routers, switches, and fiber optic cables that allow our critical infrastructures to work,” states the Bush administration’s 2003 National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. “Thus, the healthy functioning of cyberspace is essential to our economy and our national security.” In the 2006 National Military Strategy for Cyberspace Operations, a classified document, the Joint Chiefs of Staff defined cyberspace as “a domain characterized by the use of electronics and the electromagnetic spectrum to store, modify and exchange data via networked systems and associated physical infrastructures.” That strategy says offensive capabilities in cyberspace offer both the United States and its adversaries an opportunity to gain and maintain the initiative, according to unclassified Air Force briefing slides. (Archives)