Cyberattacks can justify armed response, Pentagon says

[Andre Kesteloot]

<http://www.computerworld.com/s/topic/13/IT+in+Government>


  Cyberattacks can justify armed response, Pentagon says

By Grant Gross and Jaikumar Vijayan
May 31, 2011 04:21 PM ET
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IDG News Service - The U.S. military is prepared to use physical attacks 
in response to cyberattacks, the U.S. Department of Defense said Tuesday.

The agency, preparing its first cyberspace strategy, is prepared to 
defend U.S. national security through "all available means," a DOD 
spokeswoman said.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday 
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576355623135782718.html> 
that the DOD's Defense Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace, due to be 
released within the next month, will conclude that physical attacks may 
be justified in response to cyberattacks on U.S. targets.

The DOD is prepared to "conduct the full spectrum of cyberspace 
operations" in response to a cyberattack, but the agency's potential 
response is not limited to cybermeasures, the spokeswoman said. "All 
appropriate options would be on the table," as they would be in response 
to a physical attack, she said.

The DOD's policy seems to be in line with President Barack Obama's 
International Strategy for Cyberspace 
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/international_strategy_for_cyberspace.pdf>, 
released in early May. Military options were among several potential 
responses to cyberattack that the White House said the government will 
consider.

"When warranted, the United States will respond to hostile acts in 
cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country," the White 
House document said. "We will exhaust all options before military force 
whenever we can; will carefully weigh the costs and risks of action 
against the costs of inaction; and will act in a way that reflects our 
values and strengthens our legitimacy, seeking broad international 
support whenever possible."

It is vital for the U.S. to have the capability to deter cyberattacks, 
said Danny McPherson, chief security 
<http://www.computerworld.com/s/topic/17/Security> officer at VeriSign.

"You want people to know that there will be consequences if they attack 
key infrastructure," he said. "I think it is really important to have 
policies that say that we are absolutely going to respond and we will 
protect [cyberassets] like we protect our physical infrastructure."

The biggest challenge to implementing such a strategy is pinpointing the 
source of attacks, he said. "Once you get over that hurdle it becomes 
easier to say we are going to seek heavy retribution," he said.

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