CERT
ISW'97 site

 Front Page | Table of Contents | Final Agenda | Index of Authors | Download




Back to [11]   [12]    Forwards to [13]
Information Warfare Education at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT)

The Air Force Institute of Technology's Graduate School of Engineering has recently begun to incorporate Information Warfare into its repertoire of engineering programs. The first step has been to add an Information Warfare specialization to the Master's-level Computer Engineering and Computer Systems/Science programs. This track is described in detail in section 2. In the near future we will add similar specializations to the Command/Control/Communications subfield of the Electrical Engineering program and the Operations Research program.

1. Background

The Graduate School of Engineering (AFIT/EN) is divided into six academic departments and an administrative section (AFIT/ENA). The academic departments are listed below along with their Master's Degree programs. The engineering degrees are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, making AFIT one of the few schools in the U.S. accredited at the graduate level.

  • Aeronautics and Astronautics (AFIT/ENY)
    Aeronautical Engineering, Astronautical Engineering, Systems Engineering

  • Electrical and Computer Engineering (AFIT/ENG)
    Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Systems/Science

  • Engineering Physics (AFIT/ENP)
    Engineering Physics, Electro-Optics, Nuclear Engineering, Meteorology

  • Environmental Management (AFIT/ENV)
    Engineering and Environmental Management

  • Mathematics and Computer Science (AFIT/ENC)
    Applied Mathematics

  • Operational Sciences (AFIT/ENS)
    Operations Research, Strategic and Tactical Sciences, Space Operations

The majority of AFIT students are United States Air Force officers, typically Lieutenants and junior Captains. Approximately ten percent of the AFIT students are officers from other services or allied countries or DoD civilians. Other educational opportunities are also available, such as part-time study, enrollment through the Dayton Area Graduate Studies Institute (DAGSI), and full-time doctoral programs. The School annually awards about 320 master degrees and 20 PhD degrees, placing it in the top 10% of U.S. schools in the award of advanced degrees in engineering. The AFIT Master's Degree program is typically 18 months in length for the full-time, in-residence students. Our students typically earn 72 to 80 quarter hours of credit over a six quarter program; each quarter hour equates to approximately 10 contact hours. Twelve of these credit hours are spent on significant individual research to produce a Master's thesis.

2. Information Warfare in the Graduate Computer Engineering/Systems/Science Programs

The Graduate Computer Engineering (GCE) and Graduate Computer Systems/Science (GCS) programs provide students with strong competence in the application of the concepts and techniques of computer engineering, science and systems, emphasizing specialized areas of interest to the Air Force. A variety of specializations (applications sequences) are available. The objective of the Information Warfare sequence is for the student to understand, analyze the effects of, and engage in information warfare as it relates to computer-based operations and systems. A broad systems-oriented perspective is maintained, emphasizing the interdependencies of USAF, DoD and national information and information-based systems. Counting the thesis, the student opting for the IW specialty will have 40 credit hours of direct IW-related education in his/her program, having completed the following courses:

  • CSCE 525 Introduction to IW
  • SENG 520 Systems Analysis for Design
  • CSCE 625 Information Systems Security, Assurance and Analysis
  • CSCE 626 IW Case Studies
  • CSCE 689 Advanced Operating Systems
  • CSCE 654 Computer Communications Networks
  • EENG 574 C3 and Electronic Warfare
  • CSCE 544 Data Security

The courses comprising the main thread of the IW sequence are CSCE 525, CSCE 625, and CSCE 626:

  • CSCE 525 Introduction to Information Warfare: This seminar course defines Information Warfare (IW) and its ramifications for information security and assurance. It provides a foundational understanding of C4ISR (command, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), the relationship of EW (electronic warfare) to C2W (command and control warfare) and IW, active and passive IW, information operations, deception and PSYOPS. Simultaneously, it engenders a systems-oriented viewpoint while examining Air Force, DOD, and national information infrastructures, their vulnerabilities, interdependencies and opportunities for exploitation.

  • CSCE 625 Information Systems Security, Assurance and Analysis: This course addresses the application of core computer science/engineering materials from the perspective of the computer-oriented information warrior. It synthesizes elements from computer networking and electromagnetic communications, operating systems security, and data security within a systems engineering framework. Topics to be addressed include: information coding and integrity; multi-level secure operating systems and networks; types of information attacks, detection strategies, countermeasures, hardening, damage assessment and control; issues on information security versus information assurance/timeliness; information system risk analysis and management; and IW modeling and simulation techniques.

  • CSCE 626 Information Warfare Case Studies: In this course students will apply their IW knowledge in a group systems engineering oriented design and analysis project. They will also explore several IW case studies, propose solutions and analyze their proposals.

3. Relevance to the Information Survivability Workshop

The "meat and potatoes" course, CSCE 625, is very much concerned with the same issues comprising the definition of Information Survivability. Relevance and potential are apparent.

Lt Col Gregg Gunsch, USAF, Ph.D., PE
Chief, Computer Science and Engineering Division
Dept of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Graduate School of Engineering
Air Force Institute of Technology (AU)
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
email: ggunsch@afit.af.mil
AFIT/ENG
2950 P Street
WPAFB, OH 45433-7765
937-255-6565x4281 (DSN785)
FAX: 937-656-4055 (DSN986)


7 Dec 96



Back to the Table of Contents
Back to [11]   [12]    Forwards to [13]