Sunday, June 17, 2012

What Is America’s Cyberwar Policy?

Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force

What Is America’s Cyberwar Policy? -- Washington Post editorial

THE COMPUTER WORM known as Stuxnet was stealthy. It was able to inject malicious code into the devices controlling Iran’s uranium enrichment centrifuges and deceive the operators while quietly sabotaging the centrifuges. The intent was to slow Iran’s accumulation of highly enriched uranium, which could contribute to the making of a nuclear bomb.

Much has been learned about how Stuxnet functioned since it was first discovered more than two years ago by computer security experts. But the recent disclosure that Stuxnet was approved by both Presidents George W. Bush and Obama as a covert operation aimed at Iran sheds new light on a nascent U.S. offensive cyberweapons program that has largely existed in the shadows. Instead of forcing cyberweapons into deeper secrecy, the disclosure should prompt a more open and thorough policy debate about 21st-century threats and how they will be countered with American power.

Read more ....

My Comment: I have been covering military/intelligence/national security issues for years .... and even I cannot properly articulate America's cyberwar policy. So this policy may be very secret .... hence the confusion .... or confusing and contradictory to begin with .... hence all the questions.

My prediction .... a debate on our cyberwar policy will only start after we have experienced a 9/11 cyber attack.

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