The deployment of software and hardware tools for the above purposes is "the next logical step in a cyber strategy outlined last week by Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III," one of so-called "active defense." [8]
In August CYBERCOM chief General Keith Alexander spoke at the LandWarNet 2010 conference in Tampa, Florida whose theme was Providing Global Cyber Dominance to Joint/Combined Commanders. He reiterated the contention that "cyberspace is now a domain alongside air, land, sea, and space." [9] More ominously, he added: "We have to have offensive capabilities, to, in real time, shut down somebody trying to attack us." [10]
For "active defense" read the capacity to launch preemptive attacks not only on individual hackers but on entire national computer networks.
The Washington Post cited an unnamed senior Pentagon official arguing the same point: "I think we understand that in order for us to ensure integrity within the military networks, we've got to be able to reach out as far as we can - once we know where the threat is coming from - and try to eliminate that threat where we can." Even though "taking action against an attacker's computer in another country may well violate a country's sovereignty." [11]
A reporter from the newspaper warned that "The Pentagon has standing rules of engagement for network defense, such as the right of self-defense. But the line between self-defense and offensive action can be difficult to discern." [12]
Reactions to the above statements and others like them have emanated from Russia and China, if not from official sources. A Russian website posted an analysis last month under the title "US gets ready to knock the world offline" which stated that "After October 1 [the original date for activating CYBERCOM as an independent command] thousands of US military hackers and spies will get down to their cyber war activities." [13]
The author reminded his readers that in April of this year Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta unveiled the CIA 2015 blueprint for the next five years, the "second pillar" of which includes "investing in technology to extend the CIA's operational and analytic reach and becom[ing] more efficient. Agency personnel must be able to operate effectively and securely in a rapidly changing global information environment. The plan boosts the CIA's potential for human-enabled technical collection and provides advanced software tools...." [14]
In May, the same month CYBERCOM was activated, the White House approved this year's Cyberspace Policy Review.
The Russian source also said that "Numerous publications in the US mass media show that the reform of the national cyber defense forces as well as the introduction of the doctrine and strategy of cyber war are soon to be completed. As for the US cyber strategy, we can assume that it is in line with the general concept of US global leadership." [15]
A few weeks ago an article appeared in the Global Times by a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council of China who wrote, "To control the world by controlling the Internet has been a dominant strategy of the US" and "the national information security strategy of the US has evolved from a preventative strategy to a preemptive one."
"The ultimate goal is for the US to [have] the ability to open and shut parts of the Internet at will."
The article claims that in 2004 the U.S. shut down the "ly" domain name and cut off all Internet services in Libya and "In May 2009, Microsoft announced on its website that they would turn off the Windows Live Messenger service for Cuba, Syria, Iran, Sudan and North Korea, in accordance with US legislation." [16]
The Washington Post story quoted from earlier added that the Pentagon's disabling of a Saudi website in 2008 "also inadvertently disrupted more than 300 servers in Saudi Arabia, Germany and Texas." [17]
The Chinese author further asserted that "the five core areas of Internet infrastructure are monopolized by US":
- IT giants, including high-performance computers, operating systems, database technologies, network switching technologies and information resource libraries.
- Across the world, around 92.3 percent of personal computers and 80.4 percent of super computers use Intel chips, while 91.8 percent of personal computers use Microsoft operating systems, and 98 percent of core server technology lies in the hands of IBM and Hewlett-Packard.
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