Thales : Hyperconnectivity and the cyber dimension: what are the consequences for future defence equipment?

20 billion. That's the number of connected objects expected for 2020, according to leading studies. As the “Internet of Things” becomes the “Internet of Everything” in the civil world, an equivalent phenomenon is set to take place in the military arena with the “Internet of connected objects in the theatre of operations”. This hyperconnectivity, which is the key technological consequence of the armed forces’ digital transformation, is also a result of the process of battlefield digitisation that began at the end of the 1990s. Hyperconnectivity makes it possible to collect, share, process and store large volumes of data, and represents a technological revolution for defence systems. In the near future, it will pave the way for artificial intelligence by feeding defence equipment with all the data it needs to perform effectively. This is more than a transition from analogue to digital — it's a deep-seated strategic shift that will impact military capabilities in three fundamental ways: 1) cybersecurity to withstand attacks and survive; 2) cyber-knowledge to acquire and target; and 3) cyber-effects to win.
***
 
1) Cybersecurity. With more connected objects, there is more to attack and it becomes increasingly complex to maintain security. Today’s “collaborative combat” and the cloud-based combat of tomorrow call for a more open systems approach coupled with a growing number of data streams, all of which naturally create new windows of vulnerability.

From now on, total connectivity, will require the integration of cyber security at the conception phase (“cyber by design”), to be considered as a structural dimension rather than a necessary evil. Hyperconnectivity will inevitably lead to greater numbers of attacks on equipment and platforms, which must therefore be designed from the outset to withstand unpredictable aggressions, slow down the consequences of an attack, learn from mistakes and, if need be, launch a counterattack.

The processing of huge volumes of data generated by this equipment will impose the creation of a “defense cloud” and it will deliver secure services and capabilities— from the highest level of command down to units deployed on the theatre of operations — to achieve the full potential of a future generation of defence systems capable of securely processing considerable amounts of information. If data is necessary for armed forces to act, their massive processing will also allow significant improvements such as the capacity to detect attacks, thanks to artificial intelligence, by accelerating and assisting human expertise. However, the centralised data management that comes with hyperconnectivity will not entirely replace the need to process data locally at the tactical level. The armed forces are acutely aware that their systems need to be able to operate in downgraded mode. In some respects this is the very nature of defence systems — systems that will continue to operate come what may, when all else fails, even under heavy fire and in the most hostile cyber environments. This can be achieved, for instance in naval SIGINT systems, through architectures that include dynamic management of data hosting. Or through local processing of data, leveraging so called “edge computing” solutions, necessary to maintain decision-making autonomy in the theatre of operations.

2) Cyber-knowledge. The ability to act in cyberspace is critical to acquire information, identify players, discriminate, map out or target adversaries. If we want to protect our strategic interests on the international stage and limit uncertainty in the theatre of operations, our country needs to mobilise financial resources and invest human talent to reinforce our cyber-knowledge capacity. In the intelligence field, Big Data analytics will significantly enhance such capacity.

Furthermore, the increasingly massive use of cryptographic techniques, which are now readily available and already hamper counter-terrorism efforts by our security agencies, is set to continue its growth as the corollary to hyperconnectivity. It is therefore essential to provide our intelligence services with new capacities to analyse and characterise encrypted data streams.

3) Cyber-effects. One of the primary challenges we face in the near future is to develop offensive cyber capabilities which would support operations in the theatre by influencing, neutralising or even destroying hostile systems.

In this context, solutions and services must be developed to help identify the origin of cyberattacks, which is often a long and complex process today. Artificial intelligence algorithms, dedicated to this key function, and serving both legal and military actions, could make a valuable contribution.
Advances in artificial intelligence should also offer new options for delivering tactical effects offensively in the digital arena, such as military viruses that could remotely trigger a targeted cyberattack while limiting both physical and cyber collateral damage.
 
***
 
Hyperconnectivity is transforming how armed forces and industry operate. But it also calls for a deep-seated transformation in the ways in which the armed forces and defence contractors interact. Today's models of equipment procurement and programme management will not provide the agility needed to deploy solutions that evolve at Silicon Valley speed rather than at the traditional pace of military procurement programmes. In addition, in the current constrained economic context, new structures need to be put in place to promote European cooperation.

At the national level, a shared vision, embodied in a government-industry partnership structure that could define roadmaps for new technologies and cyber services, appears to be essential. This is the condition if we are to maintain our strategic independence; strengthen the cyber industry, unique in its kind in Europe, with its ability to provide complete solutions that encompass everything from hardware components to strategic information systems; and leverage sovereign protection and threat detection equipment.

At the European level, faced with a global threat to interconnected systems, only a coordinated response by governments will allow us to protect ourselves and respond effectively to an attack. From an industrial standpoint, strengthening French and European high-tech champions is a challenge and an essential pre-requisite to Europe's ability to make its mark in a world where information systems of every kind rely on American or Chinese hardware and software.

Let there be no doubt: the challenge we face is the digital transformation of an entire “defence ecosystem” spanning government and industry alike at both national and European levels. This is how artificial intelligence promises will allow us to win the wars of tomorrow.