? The Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., has created an academic major focused on cybersecurity. The new major, dubbed computer network security, is “designed to help cadets understand what the cyberspace domain is and how the Air Force will establish cyberspace superiority in future conflicts,” said Martin Carlisle, head of the academy’s computer science department for the 2014-15 academic year, in an Aug. 12 release. “This is a time when the academy is reducing majors, which shows how important we think this mission field is,” he said. The computer network security track will feature an introductory class teaching cadets how to reverse software engineering, letting them “analyze viruses and other malware to figure out how it operates,” said Carlisle. Other classes will deal with computer forensics, strategy, political science, and law. Twenty-eight cadets—25 sophomores and three juniors—have already enrolled in the major, according to the release.
There is a new entrant in the highly competitive field of collaborative combat aircraft—semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. Northrop Grumman unveiled its new Project Talon aircraft to a small group of reporters at the facilities of its subsidiary Scaled Composites.
