PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) – A new Pentagon cybersecurity strategy lays out for the first time publicly that the U.S. military plans to use cyberwarfare as an option in conflicts with enemies.
The 33-page strategy says the Defense Department “should be able to use cyber operations to disrupt an adversary’s command and control networks, military-related critical infrastructure and weapons capabilities.”
And on Thursday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter revealed for the first time that the Pentagon uncovered a breach by Russian hackers into an unclassified defense computer network earlier this year, but officials were able to identify the intruders within 24 hours and kicked them out.
In remarks at Stanford University, Carter said the breach response shows the department is moving in the right direction, but he added: “I still worry about what we don’t know. Because this was only one attack.”
He said one way the department is responding is to be more transparent about cybersecurity, and that includes a new cybersecurity strategy that is far more open about the Pentagon’s cyber missions.