So, how would the US respond to a (gak) cyber attack? My concern would be, are they retaliating against the correct opponent. Its not like we’ve never relayed through a third party to attack…um, read about, yeah, that’s it, read about such a tactic.
But, in all seriousness I have heard a certain character in the US military recently imply that a nuclear option would be on the table. This caused me to choke on my coffee and wonder what colour the sky might be in his world. The media has been having a field day vilifying the Chinese and Russians and scaring folks in government. This will not help build level heads.
From the Associated Press:
“In the face of our almost universal reliance on untrusted systems, the United States currently is facing a grave national security challenge in the form of exploitation of our government and private-sector networks and information,” said Steven Chabinsky, assistant deputy director of cyber issues for the Obama administration’s director of national intelligence. “This exploitation is occurring on an unprecedented scale by a growing array of state and nonstate actors.”
OK, no argument there. Then he added this,
Chabinsky said the U.S. needs to figure out what it is prepared to do in the face of a cyber assault, such as an action that takes down the electrical grid. And, since the grid is privately run, officials must also decide how any counterattack should be coordinated with the corporate world.
Having been a part of the electricity vertical I can safely say that you can’t just hit the big red button that says, “shut down” and the grid goes dark. It’s no where near as simplistic as the media have lead folks to believe.
Damn you “Die Hard 4“.
So, as they examine their options I hope that cooler heads prevail and spend less time worrying about counter attacks and more on shoring up defenses.
(Image: risingpowers.foreignpolicyblogs.com)