This Week in Politics & Digital: Cyber Security in The Spotlight

The U.S. Department of Defense relies on an enormous system of networks, with 7 million computing devices and 15,000 networks in dozens of countries. These networks support the U.S.’s military, intelligence and business operations.

The security of those systems was a major issue this week, and we delve into it in today’s roundup of political news with a digital twist.

Department of Defense Creates Policy on Cyber Crime





Cybercrime is on the rise. In recent months, hacking groups such as Anonymous and LulzSec have hacked or stolen information from high-level companies including Sony, PBS, the CIA, Bank of America and Viacom, to name a few. The U.S. government has been under pressure to come up with an effective way of dealing with cyberattacks, especially when the target is national security.

This week William Lynn, deputy secretary of defense, announced a comprehensive program called Defense Industrial Base Cyber Pilot in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security. The program will share classified information with defense contractors and commercial Internet service providers.

“Our assessment is that cyberattacks will be a significant component of any future conflict, whether it involves major nations, rogue states or terrorist groups,” Lynn said during a speech at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., according to a CNET report.

The Pentagon also recently announced that cyberattacks may qualify as acts of war.

Pentagon Hit With Cyberattack

The Department of Defense was the victim of a cyberattack in March when 24,000 files were stolen, a Pentagon official said this week. The nature of those files and the perpetrator of the hack were not shared publicly.

A report from the Department of Defense said that other nations, intelligence organizations and non-state actors are working to exploit and disrupt the Department of Defense’s unclassified and classified networks.

Image courtesy of Flickr, cabbit, Security and Defence Agenda

More About: cyber crime, cyber security, cyberattack, Department of Defense, department of homeland security, hack, hacker, hacking, Pentagon, politics, social media, week in digital politics

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