In a special report, dated October 5, 2010, Jim Wolf of Reuters reports that the U.S. military "is preparing for digital combat even more extensively that has been made public." Based on "dozens of interviews with military officers, government officials and outside experts," the report states that one of the Pentagon's primary (and more controversial) objectives is "keep[ing] the nation's lifeblood industries safe."
According to Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn, "'The best-laid defenses on military networks will matter little unless out civilian critical infrastructure is also able to withstand attacks.'" "Any major conflict, he says, inevitably will involve cuber warfare that could knock out power, transport and banks, causing 'massive' economic disruption."
Recent concerns caused by Stuxnet, as well as recent alleged Russian and Chinese penetrations of the U.S. electricity grid, have led to the "Pentagon's push to put civilian infrastructure under its wing by creating a cyber realm walled off from the rest of the Internet. It would feature 'active' perimeter defenses, including intrusion monitoring and scanning technology, at its interface with the public internet, much like the Pentagon's 'dot.mil' domain," which supports more than 15,000 Defense Department networks.
"The head of the military's new Cyber Command, Army General Keith Alexander [and Syracuse, NY native] says setting [up the wall around the civilian infrastructure] would be straightforward technically. He calls it a 'secure zone, a protected zone.' Others have dubbed the idea 'dot.secure.'"
Others, however, see the "dot.secure" proposal as nothing more than an expensive bullseye. According to Richard Bejtlich, General Electric Co.'s director of incident response "'Dot.secure becomes the new Target One. I can't think of an easier way to help an adversary target the most critical information on industry computers.'"
Others such as Greg Neichin of Cleantech Group, LLC, a San Fransisco-based research firm, points out that utility companies are already well prepared. "'Private industry is throwing huge sums at this already,'" he says. "'What is the gain from government involvement?'"
Additionally, a potential turf war appears to be in the making. According to "[General] Alexander[,] the White House is considering whether to ask Congress for new authorities as part of a revised team approach to cyber threats that would also involve the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department." Increased involvement from these varying agencies has raised the question: "who's in charge?" Competing rhetoric may be the first indication of possible friction. Homeland Secretary Jane Lute is quoted in the special report as saying:
"'We have to depart from the romantic notion of cyberspace as the Wild Wild West. Or the scary notion of cyberspace as a combat zone. The goal here is not control, it's confidence.'"
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The full text of the special report can be found at the link above, or here.
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