iBrowse: Pentagon's cyber war strategy

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Facing escalating risks of cyberattacks by hackers, criminals and other nations, the Pentagon is developing more resilient computer networks so the military can continue to operate if critical systems are taken down.

In a broad new cybersecurity strategy released last week, the Defense Department laid out its vulnerabilities to attack from outside and within its own workforce. It declared cyberspace a new warfare domain, like air, land and sea. The new strategy stresses the need for the military to continue to operate if its computer systems are attacked and degraded.

The strategy is the final step in the administration's effort to map how to handle the escalating threat of cyberattacks, including assaults on infrastructure like the electrical grid, financial networks or power plants.

Details about how the military would respond to a cyberattack or discussion of any offensive cyberspace operations by the United States are not included in the summary. That information is in classified documents and directives.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama signed executive orders laying out how far military commanders around the globe can go in using cyberattacks and computer-based operations against enemies and as part of routine espionage in other countries. The orders detail when the military must seek presidential approval for a specific cyberattack on an enemy.