Pentagon lays out U.S. policy in preparation for cyber warfare

November 16, 2011 – WASHINGTON – The Pentagon laid out its most explicit cyber-warfare policy to date, stating that if directed by the Commander-in-Chief, it will launch “offensive cyber operations” in response to hostile acts against the US. or its facilities. Those hostile acts may include “significant cyber attacks directed against the U.S. economy, government or military,” Defense Department officials stated U.S. official policy in a long-overdue report to Congress released this week. The United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is an armed forces sub-unified command subordinate to United States Strategic Command that was established in 2009 to deal with the growing threat of cyber crimes and invasive security protocol intrusions. The U.S. Defense cyber terrorism policy states that: “When warranted, we will respond to hostile attacks in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country. We reserve the right to use all necessary means – diplomatic, informational, military and economic – to defend our nation, our allies, our partners and our interests,” the report stated. In May of this year, the Department of Defense concluded and deemed that the Laws of Armed Conflict, which govern the level of appropriate military action in the face of naked aggression by a foreign power, should also extend to the cyberspace field of operations. In the meantime, the U.S. has joined NATO’s cyber facility in Estonia. The multinational computer center was created in 2008 after Estonia’s government and corporate computer networks came under attack the year before following a dispute with neighboring Russia. U.S. defensive maneauvering in IT technology and security comes in response to what Washington military officials believe will be some of the biggest threats to emerge in the 21st century. The United States will help fund the center, and its scientists and cyber defense experts will be able to both study and teach at the center’s premises in the Estonian capital Tallinn. The U.S. Embassy in Estonia said Wednesday that Poland was also joining the center, which now will have 10 members. Previously, the United States held an observer status at the European facility. –The Extinction Protocol