Military Can Respond to ‘Domestic’ Cyber Threats

The military industrial complex…

DoD Expanding Domestic Cyber Role

The U.S. Defense Department is quietly taking on an expanding role in defending U.S. critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.

In a break with previous policy, the military now is prepared to provide cyber expertise to other government agencies and to certain private companies to counter attacks on their computer networks, the Pentagon's cyber policy chief, Robert Butler, said Oct. 20.

An agreement signed this month with the Department of Homeland Security and an earlier initiative to protect companies in the defense industrial base make it likely that the military will be a key part of any response to a cyber attack.