21st Century Threats - UPDATED Posted by Michael Cohen

There is a really important/fascinating article in the New York Times today on the threat of cyberwarfare - and the need for the US to consider offensive cyber operations in targeting malicious hackers

Just as the invention of the atomic bomb changed warfare and deterrence 64 years ago, a new international race has begun to develop cyberweapons and systems to protect against them.

Thousands of daily attacks on federal and private computer systems in the United States — many from China and Russia, some malicious and some testing chinks in the patchwork of American firewalls — have prompted the Obama administration to review American strategy.

President Obama is expected to propose a far larger defensive effort in coming days, including an expansion of the $17 billion, five-year program that Congress approved last year, the appointment of a White House official to coordinate the effort, and an end to a running bureaucratic battle over who is responsible for defending against cyberattacks.

But Mr. Obama is expected to say little or nothing about the nation’s offensive capabilities, on which the military and the nation’s intelligence agencies have been spending billions. In interviews over the past several months, a range of military and intelligence officials, as well as outside experts, have described a huge increase in the sophistication of American cyberwarfare capabilities.

One of the interesting takeaways from the piece is that "“The fortress model simply will not work for cyber . . Someone will always get in," which means that sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Sound familiar.

Whatever the strategies involved, however, one thing is clear - while Washington is pulling it hair out over the future of a combat aircraft that is largely useless against the greatest security threats facing the United States; far greater challenges to our security are not receiving the public attention they deserve.  Not only does the country need to beef up its cyberdefenses, but as the article suggests, there are a host of legal issues that need to be addressed as well.

Whether its cyberwarfare or health pandemics (like the swine flu issue we are seeing today) this is the future: a globalized world where power is defused, borders are porous and information technology is potentially shifting the balance of power toward transnational and non-state actors.

Read the piece though. It won't be the last on this issue, I can assure you.

UPDATED - There is one worthwhile addendum to make to this post - this little nugget of information:

So far, however, there are no broad authorizations for American forces to engage in cyberwar. The invasion of the Qaeda computer in Iraq several years ago and the covert activity in Iran were each individually authorized by Mr. Bush. When he issued a set of classified presidential orders in January 2008 to organize and improve America’s online defenses, the administration could not agree on how to write the authorization.

A principal architect of that order said the issue had been passed on to the next president, in part because of the complexities of cyberwar operations that, by necessity, would most likely be conducted on both domestic and foreign Internet sites. After the controversy surrounding domestic spying, Mr. Bush’s aides concluded, the Bush White House did not have the credibility or the political capital to deal with the subject.

Just a reminder that executive branch law-breaking . . .  has consequences.

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