Pentagon Admits Cyberwarfare Plan For First Time

America's Department of Defense intends to establish a full-time unit of computer experts in the San Francisco Bay area.

11:10, UK, Thursday 23 April 2015

The US Department of Defense is taking on recruits to conduct cyberwarfare

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The Pentagon has admitted for the first time it plans to use cyberwarfare in its battle to keep up with its enemies.

In a 33-page 'cybersecurity strategy' the US Department of Defense has publicly laid out the approach plans to take.
The document says the DoD "should be able to use cyber operations to disrupt an adversary's command and control networks, military-related critical infrastructure and weapons capabilities".
The previous strategy, published in 2011, made little reference to clandestine warfare using computer networks, although US officials are known to have spoken privately about the issue.
Reports in 2013 claimed that senators had received a closed-door briefing on how the New York City power grid could be taken down by a computer virus.

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The television reports said officials had told NBC off the record that the US was already employing cyberwarriors who were capable of shutting down the power system of a smaller country - like Iran.
The new document takes a more open approach because the Pentagon wants more transparency in its cyber mission - and because it could be a deterrent to adversaries.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said: "I think it will be useful to us for the world to know that, first of all, we're going to protect ourselves, we're going to defend ourselves."
He added that the new strategy is "more clear and more specific about everything, including (US) offence".

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The strategy also, for the first time, refers to US concerns over cyber-espionage by China.
China admitted the existence of dedicated cyber warfare units in a document produced by the People's Liberation Army earlier this year, according to the Daily Beast.
The hacking of Sony's emails last year, which the US government blamed on North Korea, also showed the dangers to American interests from other unfriendly states.
The document says the US will continue to try to work with Beijing to bring greater understanding and transparency of each nation's cyber missions to "reduce the risks of misperception and miscalculation".

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"One of the things we need to do is have that dialogue," said Mr Carter.
According to officials, Mr Carter is setting up a full-time unit of military, civilian and reservist workers in the San Francisco Bay area in the next month or so.
But he said one of the things holding back progress was that the US military suffers from a lack of "coolness".
He said some of the bright young recruits the DoD needs to maintain its war are more likely to want to work for Silicon Valley's top tech firms, rather than with the Pentagon.

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