Cyber operations were given their first big real-world test in November 2016, during the Department of Defense’s largest cyber operation to date. Now newly released documents reveal that U.S. Cyber Command proposed passing some targets to coalition partners — information typically held closely.
The documents, released as part of a Freedom of Information Act request from the National Security Archive at George Washington University, are a series of internal briefings and lessons from Operation Glowing Symphony. The operation was part of the larger counter-ISIS operations — Joint Task Force-Ares — but specifically targeted ISIS’s media and online operations, taking out infrastructure and preventing ISIS members from communicating and posting propaganda.
“As a [course of action] for dynamically deconflicting and engaging aim points of opportunity, the [cyber mission force] proposed passing aim point information to allied partners to take for action,” an after-action observation of Operation Glowing Symphony prepared by Cyber Command’s operations directorate stated.
