Matthew 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Editor’s Note: In May 2011, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled “Pentagon: Cyber Attacks Can Count as Acts of War.” The article began, “The Pentagon has concluded that computer sabotage coming from another country can constitute an act of war, a finding that for the first time opens the door for the U.S. to respond using traditional military force.”
The commander of the U.S. Cyber Command told Congress on Thursday that the military is not ready for a major cyber war and that they need to bolster their defenses both for military infrastructure and private business.
“Those attacks are coming and I think those are near term and we’re not ready for them,” said Army Gen. Keith Alexander. Alexander is also the outgoing director of the National Security Agency.
Alexander told congressmen that the Cyber Command’s 1,100 employees are making progress but are still not ready for a major assault. Alexander said that attackers are changing plans from short term disruptions to attacks that would cause long lasting damage to critical systems including destruction of machines.
The most major concerns are attacks on the nation’s power supplies or economic systems. As an example, Alexander mentioned the harm that could be caused should a hacker break into the New York Stock Exchange and destroy their systems.
“While we have increased our own cyber capabilities, the worldwide cyber threat is growing in scale and sophistication, with an increasing number of state and non-state actors targeting U.S. networks on a daily basis,” Admiral Cecil Haney of the U.S. Strategic Command told Congress.
