Crackers, on the other hand, practice the same cyberspace snooping but with malicious intent. Their goal may be to plant a virus or gain unauthorized access to data. Once a cracker gets into a computer, he can bounce around an entire network or from network to network. With the establishment of the RIPC in April, the command has effectively built a superhighway roadblock against systems intrusions in this theater. Since it became operational, other Department of Defense computer managers in the theater are turning to us for advice and help in establishing their own information protection procedures.
Information warfare is a fairly new concept which is being redefined every day.
With the Air Force taking the lead in this arena we're in a position to help increase the overall level of protection for all government computer systems. The information protection software tools used in the center's monitoring of electronic traffic are providing one means of protection for all DOD systems. According to LaTorre-Couch, information flowing into and out of the command's computer systems filters through the analysis software. When the system finds suspect traffic, it flags it for review by the center's analysts. The analysts screen the data to determine if there is a system penetration or compromise of information warranting further investigation.