A few weeks ago the Pentagon confirmed that part of the Department of Defense’s email system was compromised by hackers. Most shocking was the fact Defense Secretary Robert Gates had his name on the list of hacked emails. The DoD would not formally accuse the Chinese government of being the hackers, but Washington has began initiatives to step up security in cyberworld.
The Bush administration is considering the creation of a new agency that will focus on the security and protection of government computers and programs. The agency would also help private companies and public utilities prevent computer attacks and hacking.
How big is the threat against the U.S.’s government computers?
According to Brian Ross and Vic Walter at ABC News,
“Internet security companies, such as Akamai in Boston, are currently tracking thousands of attacks against the U.S. government and corporate computer systems every day…”We would not be in a good situation if we were to enter a cyberwar today,” Akamai co-founder and chief scientist Tom Leighton said.“
They also include in their report, “On most days, the single biggest source of those attacks is China…A Chinese general has talked about how they would reach out through cyberspace and turn off the American electric power grid before any conflict with the United States,” said Dick Clarke, a former White House counterterrorism official and now ABC News consultant.”
Sound like an episode from 24? I don’t know about you but I think this is some really scary stuff and this is actually one proposal that I’m going to support the Bush administration on.
For the complete story from ABC News, read here. The report also includes a video from World News Tonight which you can watch here.
Off The Grid 
Security companies track thousands of attacks against the U.S. government and corporate computer systems every day. On the heals of the organized attack earlier this year against Estonia, the Bush administration is reported to be considering creating a new agency to better protect the United States against a Cyber War. The Technolytics Institute in conjunction released a whitepaper that examines the issue of cyber warfare. Authored by Kevin Coleman, the former Chief Strategist of Netscape, the report examines the offensive and defensive capabilities of the major players in the new Cyber Arms race.
The report can be found at: http://www.technolytics.com/Cyber_War_Released.pdf
INTEL: A Chinese general has openly talked about how they use the internet to turn off the American electric power grid before any conflict with the United States.