Edwards receives 'Excellent' on CCRI

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Jeffrey Guion
  • 412th Communications Squadron
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Cyberspace may not be tangible, but it is a critical warfighting domain as evidenced by its inclusion in the Air Force mission to "Fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace." Not only is cyberspace its own domain, it is also infused in every other domain and transcends traditional boundaries. This presents unique challenges to provide a mission-assuring, resilient and defensible Air Force network as it can be attacked or intruded by adversaries at anytime from anywhere. It is vital that the network and systems on the network have a strong cyber security posture to confront these cyber-related challenges of today and tomorrow.

Both base networks, unclassified and classified, were tested from Jan. 26 to 30, where Edwards underwent an extensive Command Readiness Cyber Inspection (CCRI). The CCRI is a U.S. Cyber Command-directed assessment of the current state of network configuration and cyber security readiness for all DOD installations across the world.

"The purpose of the inspection is to discover vulnerabilities on the network that can be exploited by an adversary," said Lt. Col. Christopher Budde, 412th Communication Squadron commander. "The team of inspectors use scanning tools to analyze all the systems on the base network and report any vulnerabilities that are found. The more vulnerabilities that are discovered, the lower the overall score."

"Edwards was also the first location to undergo a new, more comprehensive scoring system during the CCRI," added Budde. "We were looking to become the best practice for the Air Force, not the lesson learned and Team Edwards met that challenge."

Under the new grading criteria, the inspectors checked the security of web servers, databases and Voice over IP telephones in addition to base vulnerability scans, internal networking devices and traditional security of classified processing areas throughout the 412th Test Wing and its mission partners.

Edwards was graded an "Excellent," receiving an 85 percent on NIPRNet and 89 percent on SIPRNet. Air Force Cyber Command stated that the 89 percent on SIPRNet was the highest rating for an Air Force unit to date.

"We take cyber security very seriously here at Edwards AFB and will do everything we can to enable and protect our vital test and evaluation mission in the cyber domain," said Budde. "I'm very proud of the hard work and dedication put in by the team at the 412th Communications Squadron as well as all the support from our partners in cyber security - the information assurance officer, security managers and system administrators across Team Edwards."