A lack of proactive protection from cyber-attacks on US defence
department networks has cost tax payers about $100m in the past six
months, US strategic command officials have revealed.
Protecting the networks is a huge challenge for the command, Air
Force general Kevin Chilton told a cyber-security conference in
Omaha, according to US
media
reports.
The networks are attacked thousands of times a day, he said,
ranging from plain vandalism to theft of money and information.
Chilton said cyber-protection should be more proactive, which
will require people working in the defence department to change the
way they conduct themselves in cyber-space.
According to Chilton, cyber-security in the defence departments
would improve if people just followed the basic rules and
procedures that have been put in place.
News of the US military's expenditure on cyber-security
comesjust a week after Canadian
researchers
published a report that proves that state-sponsored
cyber-espionage is not science fiction, but a real and present
threat.
The China-based operation, dubbed GhostNet, infiltrated more
than 1,000 computers in more than 100 countries, the researchers
found.
The spy operation targeted politicians, diplomats and
journalists using spyware installed on computers to gain access to
sensitive information since 2007.