 As the White House makes progress and movement toward establishing a Cyber Security Czar to protect the aggregate networks of the Federal government, the Wall St. Journal reported that a new Cyber Command to protect the Petnagon will be stood up in the coming weeks. This new Cyber Command will be assembled under the Strategic Command but will have its own command specifically for Cyber.
The Focus has intensified based on recent Cyber hacks that have penetrated the $300 Billion Joint Strike Fighter, the US Power Grid and an Air Force Air Traffic Control system. The attacks appear to be the result of deliberate efforts from both China and Russia, making retaliation through cyber offensives, a slippery slope. The new Cyber Command will be designed in part to better protect US military assets and better develop US offensive measures for dealing with this threat. China denies the charges of hacking or that it is connected to Ghostnet.
Two of the many looming questions that remain are, “How will government cyber security efforts protect the assets of the United States government?” and “How will this new government initiative protect and defend the assets and intellectual property of US companies in the private sector?” Foreign competitors and enemies of the US have been stealing from American firms at an estimated rate measured in the trillions of dollars. Computer security company McAfee estimated that last year alone $1 trillion worth of intelectual property and data loss occurred in the United States.
Above video: WSJ’s Military Correspondent Yochi Dreazen reports.
