The US military is to establish a special unit to develop
cyber-weapons to defend military networks.
The unit will also help safeguard civilian systems, Pentagon
press secretary
Geoff Morrel said.
The UK government has
announced similar plans. It aims to recruit white hat hackers
to detect, repair and prevent cyber attacks. It plans a UK Cyber
Security Operations Centre to collate, assess and distribute threat
information and carry out counterattacks
The US unit will be set up as part of the US Strategic Command,
which is responsible for commanding operations in nuclear and
computer warfare.
The UK unit is be set up in September. The US military cyber
command is to be launched a month later and is expected to be fully
operational by October 2010.
Both countries have expressed concerns about overseas hackers
stealing sensitive data from government departments and
businesses.
Earlier this month, US president
Barack Obama acknowledged that the cyber threat is one of the
most serious economic and national security challenges faced by the
US.
Top of Obama's action list is to appoint a single cyber security
tzar to lead an office in the White House to co-ordinate all
cybersecurity-related government policy.
US commentators said the authority of the White House will help
overcome the turf battles that have hampered co-ordination of cyber
defences in the past.
Many security industry representatives are in favour of the UK
doing the same by appointing a centrally accountable official who
reports to the prime minister.