Pentagon Unveils New Cyber Strategy After Hackers Pilfer 24,000 Files

Posted 07/15/2011 at 10:31am | by Brad Chacos

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The US's cyber strategy sucks – just ask the Pentagon. They're not shy about the problem, and in fact, just yesterday they were all too ready to provide an example; earlier this spring, "foreign intruders" managed to get hold of over 24,000 Pentagon files in one of the worst security breaches in US military history.

Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn didn't go into details about the breach other than to say that foreign hackers got the information from a defense contractor that works with the Pentagon. Maybe it had something to do with duplicate SecurID electronic keys? The Guardian reports Lynn as saying that critical files "including plans for missile-tracking systems, satellite navigation, surveillance drones and even jet fighters have been stolen from systems" in the past year.

The announcement wasn't a random burst of openness by the normally closed-lip organization, but rather part of a speech leading up to the unveiling of the Pentagon's new cyber strategy. The Pentagon wants to transition from its current reactionary plans and instead focus on "denying the benefit of an attack" by using a mixture of sensors, software and code to create a more active defense. The idea is to identify and halt attacks before they result in a critical breach.

"Rather than rely on the threat of retaliation alone to deter attacks in cyberspace, we aim to change our adversaries’ incentives in a more fundamental way," Deputy Secretary Lynn told the Washington Post. "If an attack will not have its intended effect, those who wish us harm will have less reason to target us through cyberspace in the first place.”

Image Credit: Daily Galaxy