(PTI): The Pentagon is planning to establish a cybercommand to manage its future offensive and defensive conduct in the cyberspace.
The cybercommand will combine its efforts with already-in-place civilian attempts to better protect US computer networks against cyber attacks, allegedly posed by hackers and sometimes by governments.
The US President Barack Obama on Friday informed both the National Security Council and the National Economic Council of the White House’s plans for the creation of a cyber office.
“Cyberspace is real and so are the risks that come with it,” Obama said. He is expected to name a cybersecurity official soon.
Plans are under review to bring together the National Security Agency and the US defense department to jointly set cyberstandards that would ward off thousands of cyberattacks mounted against the United States.
The US president, however, also said that his administration would not impose cybersecurity standards for private companies.
Despite claims made by the US about cyberattacks on its networks, officials decline to describe the potential offensive response they have against these alleged threats, but say they now view cyberspace as comparable to more traditional battlefields.
“We are not comfortable discussing the question of offensive cyberoperations, but we consider cyberspace a war-fighting domain,” said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, according to The New York Times.
“We need to be able to operate within that domain just like on any battlefield, which includes protecting our freedom of movement and preserving our capability to perform in that environment.”
An earlier report in April suggested cyberspies attacking the US power infrastructure and introducing some malwares capable of damaging the systems in critical times.
A late April Wall Street Journal report also cited current and former government officials that cyberspies successfully copied and took away several terabytes of sensitive data related to design and electronic systems of the costly F-35 Lightning II fighter.
