Black-Cyber-Operations have become all too common, launching highly sophisticated cyber actions against their targets that go undetected for months or years. Russia began developing black-cyber-ops teams as far back as the early 1990s. But Russia is not the only military with these capabilities. A Chinese black-ops team is credited with the design and execution of the “Titan Rain” initiative that long went unchecked and undetected deep inside the U.S. Department of Defense networks.

In a recent government survey of more than 100,000 people across the U.S., 40 percent reported no broadband or high-​​speed access to the Internet, while 30 percent said they have no Internet access at all. Satellite broadband delivery is seen to be a quick and economical solution to this problem.

Run for the hills! The Justice Department’s lawyers are trying to figure out just what would constitute an act of war during a cyber attack. OK, it may not be that bad, but the specter of a room full of government lawyers trying to decide what constitutes an act of war when it occurs via the Internet is not terribly reassuring. To be fair, no one has come up with a decent answer to what turns out to be a very thorny question.

Reviews of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review are pouring in from Washington’s defense cognoscenti and so far they come with a strong tilt towards disappointed. The lack of any real news or major program or policy shifts has led a number of defense wonks to question the value of the whole QDR process.

It is official. The two major theater war strategy — blueprint for American power for almost a quarter century — is no more. In the long run, that is likely to be the most significant change outlined by the Quadrennial Defense Review. This QDR acknowledges the need for a robust force capable of protecting U.S. interests against a multiplicity of threats. But it is “no longer appropriate to speak of major regional conflicts as the sole or even the primary template for sizing, shaping and evaluating US forces.”

The Pentagon has “dodged the bullet” in the fiscal 2011 budget but will almost certainly face demands for cuts next year. That was the fundamental assessment of strategy and budget experts at the respected Center for Strategy and Budgetary Assessments, a thinktank and consulting shop on which senior military leaders often rely. “I can tell you there is no way the defense budget will be immune to budget reduction efforts,” Stan Collender, one of Washington’s most respected budget wallahs, said at CSBA’s annual budget briefing.

Capitol Republicans have been banging heads over the last few weeks, trying to figure out how to counter the expected results of the soon-to-be-released Quadrennial Defense Review. The greatest challenge for the Republicans is simple: Robert Gates, who has drawn the mantle of this QDR tight about his shoulders, stands behind the decisions arrived at during the QDR and he was appointed by a Republican. His national security credentials are impeccable and no one can accuse him of being weak on national defense or a misguided Democrat.

The Army has released the final version of its Capstone Concept, shifting the service’s big ideas from preparing to fight mechanized battles on open battlefields to waging complex wars amongst the people against a hybrid mixture of adversaries. The new pub pushes the idea of “operational adaptability,” demanding intellectually agile soldiers who can rapidly adapt to complexity and a shifting and shadowy enemy.

The head of Air Force ISR — the guy who oversees Predator training and equipping — says that the Predator data that was broadcast in the clear and intercepted by bad guys in Iraq did not have “significant impacts” on US operations. That’s what Lt Gen. David Deptula said. “Nothing is compromised. I want to get information out to the joint forces on the ground, you follow me? If someone does pick [the video feed] up and they don’t know the context of how the information is being used, what’s the compromise?”

There were 28 lap­tops lost or stolen in the last four months and 66 in total since January 1, 2009. Looking back over the last 4 years there were 658 that van­ished. A major hunt is now on in London after a lap­top crammed with secret data was stolen from inside the Ministry of Defense (MoD) nerve cen­ter. FROM THEIR HEADQUARTERS!

The Army recently took a big step forward in its quest for the “holy grail” of battlefield network connectivity: providing satellite imagery, video feeds from aerial drones, text messaging and more robust communications to small networked teams on the move through rough terrain. The idea is to create a platoon or smaller unit computer “cloud” that can move with the soldier as they move, providing communications and connectivty between each other and higher headquarters even when dispersed.

Cyber insecurity has become such a seri­ous issue that President Obama recently ordered a thor­ough review and the devel­op­ment of a new approach to inter­na­tional cyber policies. One of the more sig­nif­i­cant actions resulting from this was the decision to begin talks between Russia and the United States. Back on 12 November, a Russian del­e­ga­tion led by Gen. Vladislav Sherstyuk, a deputy sec­re­tary of the Russian Security Council, flew to Washington for a meet­ing with rep­re­sen­ta­tives from the U.S. National Security Council and the State Department, Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

The Pentagon, after years and years of deliberation and heavy pressure from Britain, has finally decided it will not share the all-important computer source code for the Joint Strike Fighter. Sharing source code would, in the words of one close observer of the program, “turn the British JSF into a Trojan Horse.”

Two influential analysts told lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week that America’s strategic position in the world is eroding. America is losing its technological edge and is in deep financial trouble, while purchasing power is shifting from the West to Asia. Those trends cannot be undone, they warned, so the U.S. must adapt and seek greater cooperation with allies and establish “rules of the road” with potential rivals.

When it comes to cyber attacks, the odds are against us. The head cyber protection guy at the National Security Agency, Richard Schaeffer, told the Senate Judiciary subcommittee that about 80 percent of attacks on our networks can be prevented. That is “unacceptable,” Sen. Ben Cardin, subcommittee chairman, told Schaeffer and the other government officials testifying before him. “We would never ponder a defense budget that is dependent on an 80 percent success rate.”

When one of China’s top two military leaders visited America last month, the PLA launched an impressive and coordinated propaganda effort. The Chinese also have crafted an coordinated approach to using cyber warfare, melding it with signals intelligence, electronic warfare and precision guided weapons in a new strategy called Integrated Network Electronic Warfare (INEW). “This sort of multi-spectrum assault has potential implications that go well beyond the battlefield,” Larry Wortzel, a top China expert will tell Congress Tuesday.

In what could mark a major improvement to the nation’s ability to defend itself against cyber threats, the Department of Homeland Security will announce Friday that the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team will merge with the National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications. The two groups — now separated by two floors — will now be co-located and will operate jointly.

In a rare public appearance, Gen. Xu Caihou, vice chairman of China’s Communist Party’s Central Military Commission, came to Washington and told an audience that his country remains a “developing country and would not, could not threaten developed countries.” In fact, the PRC seeks “accommodation, not confrontation.”

The long expected request for more troops from Afghan commander Gen. McChrystal is due within the next two days, his commander, Gen. Petraeus said. While he wouldn’t elaborate on the “pre-decisional” size of that request, Petraeus said both he and Joint Chiefs chair Adm. Mike Mullen endorsed McChrystal’s new strategy, leaked earlier this week. Petraeus highlighted a critical shortage of forward air controllers in Afghanistan.

It’s official. Jamie McIntyre, who used to cover the military for CNN, has joined the Military​.com team with his own site, Line of Departure. I knew Jamie from my days covering NATO at Defense News and we shared a few flights with then-Defense Secretary William Cohen. He’s a rock solid reporter who will bring a deep source book and a unique perspective on how the military is faring and how relations between the media and the military shape both enterprises. Move out!