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Mississippi base among cyberterrorism HQ finalists
Published Wednesday, January 23, 2008
BILOXI (AP) — Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi is a finalist to become the nation's headquarters in the fight against cyberterrorism.
The first national command to fight in cyberspace, its location here would be a major coup for Biloxi and Mississippi — "as big as any Nissan plant, Toyota plant" or large casino project, said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Clark Griffith.
Griffith presented the proposal to the Biloxi City Council on Tuesday. He said the Cyberspace Command Headquarters would bring up to 10,000 jobs to the city.
The Cyberspace Command is designed to defend strategic computer systems against electronic warfare. Projections say that could bring to the region 10,000 to 15,000 jobs with annual payroll of at least $750 million.
Fifteen other sites are under consideration.
Griffith told the city council that Keesler's chief competition is Langley Air Force Base in Virginia; Offutt, which is south of Bellevue, Neb., Colorado Springs, Col.; and Barksdale in Shreveport, La.
All the others except the Shreveport base already have major commands, he said.
"Keesler is already the electronics-training headquarters for the Air Force and the home to the second-largest medical facility in the Air Force," said Mayor A.J. Holloway, who is working with Griffith to bring the command to Biloxi.
If Biloxi is chosen as the site of the Cyberspace Command, "this will solidify Keesler as a major base forever," Holloway said, and Keesler Medical Center, because the Air Force has never closed a major command headquarters.
Griffith said the Keesler proposal will be presented to the chief of staff of the Air Force on Feb. 13 or Feb. 14. He said Gov. Haley Barbour, U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, both R-Miss., and U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., and Mississippi State University President Robert Fogelsong, a retired four-star general, were scheduled to attend.
Griffith said the decision on where to locate the Cyberspace Command is expected by early March; by fall, work should begin to establish the headquarters.
Wherever the new Cyberspace Headquarters is located, Keesler will get a piece of the pie. Air Force personnel who staff the center will be trained at Keesler, Griffith said.
Comments
Posted by Peace007 (anonymous) on January 23, 2008 at 7:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Is that who we will be chatting with in chat rooms and message boards?
Posted by LdyBreez (anonymous) on January 24, 2008 at 1:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Definiton from Wikipedia:
Cyberterrorism:
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a bipartisan organization of legislators and their staff created to help policymakers of all 50 states address vital issues such as those affecting the economy or homeland security by providing them with a forum for exchanging ideas, sharing research and obtaining technical assistance [1] defines Cyberterrorism as follows:
"the use of information technology by terrorist groups and individuals to further their agenda. This can include use of information technology to organize and execute attacks against networks, computer systems and telecommunications infrastructures, or for exchanging information or making threats electronically. Examples are hacking into computer systems, introducing viruses to vulnerable networks, web site defacing, denial-of-service attacks, or terroristic threats made via electronic communication."
So unless you use your computer to for any of the above mentioned activities, you have no fear of this facility.
Posted by Peace007 (anonymous) on January 24, 2008 at 8:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What if someone else were to hack into our computer and use it for those activities? Would we need to fear them then?
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