Cyber-attack: U.S. plans to destroy enemy computer networks questioned.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 July 2009
• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Published date: 01 July 2009
• Author: Magnuson, Stew

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The Air Force will not only defend its computer networks, but it may attack those of U.S. enemy systems as well, say officials.

"Imagine what can happen to us," Air Force Gen. William T. Lord, provisional commander of the service's cybercommand, said of an attack on Defense Department computers. "We'd like to take that capability and bring it down on the heads of our enemies."

While a presidential commission focused tills spring on a government-wide examination of the nation's vulnerabilities on cyberdefense, there is an under-the-radar debate on what the military, intelligence and law enforcement communities' intentions are in the top secret realm of cyber-attack.

Retired Adm. William Owen, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he sees little evidence that there is a government-wide understanding of the repercussions of launching an attack on enemy computers. And that goes for the military as well.

"My guess is that most of the generals and admirals don't really understand what the hell we're playing with here and we need to find a way to get some focused attention" on this topic, he told National Defense.

Owen is the co-author of a National Research Council report, "Technology, Policy, Law and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyber-Attack Capabilities."

The study--two-and-a-half years in the making--concludes that policies and regulations for carrying out computer attacks are "ill-formed, undeveloped and highly uncertain," said Kenneth Dam, a former deputy secretary of state who also contributed to the report.

The authors could not identify any single authority in the government responsible for coordinating cyber-attacks or promulgating policy--if there is any policy at all. Further, there are no congressional committees designated to oversee the government's efforts.

In short, if the United States government goes on the offense in cyberspace, there may be a lack of accountability, the report concluded.

Secrecy has impeded widespread debate about the nature and implications of cyberattack, the authors asserted. Much of the defense community's efforts in this realm are top secret.

"It's not so much secrecy, it's actual silence. It just isn't discussed," Dam said at a press briefing. There needs to be a public debate about the repercussions of launching cyber-attacks, the report said. In the early days of nuclear weapons, there was a great deal of literature coming out of think tanks...