U.S. Unprepared for Cyber Attack (...Again...Still)

This is one of those annual or bi-annual posts that seems to stay perpetually the same. Even before 9/11 the United States was conducting exercises to determine how well government agencies and the critical infrastructure of the nation (water, power, communications) could withstand a cyber attack. You can check out the book Black Ice by Dan Verton to learn more about the exercises and how well the United States has fared in years past.

Well, it is 7 years post 9/11 and the United States has apparently not made much progress in terms of shoring up the defenses and coordinating the efforts to counter a potential cyber attack. According to this article from Yahoo Tech, the most recent exercise "involved 230 representatives of government defense and security agencies, private companies and civil groups." As in years past, the results were not promising.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff stated that International Law and United States Military Doctrine need to be revised to reflect the increased potential for the use of cyber attacks as a means of terrorism or state-sponsored aggression. He noted "We know that if someone shoots missiles at us, they're going to get a certain kind of response. What happens if it comes over the Internet?"

Read U.S. Not Ready for Cyber Attack for more about this most recent exercise. The National Journal also published an article today detailing the cyber attacks that occurred against the computer systems of the United States Congress in late 2006. To learn more about national cybersecurity and homeland security in general, check out these books:

• The Myth of Homeland Security
• Black Ice
• Beyond Fear