Fergie's Tech Blog

Report: U.S. Cyber Warfare Needs Oversight

An AP newswire article by Lolita C. Baldor, via The Army Times, reports that:

Shrouded in secrecy, the U.S. government’s policies on how and when to wage cyber warfare are ill-formed, lack adequate oversight and require a broad public debate, a new report by the National Research Council says.

The report warns that the “undeveloped and uncertain nature” of the government’s cyber warfare policies could lead to them being used hastily and ill-advisedly during a crisis. That danger is compounded by secrecy and lack of oversight, the report’s authors cautioned on Wednesday.

“Unsound policy formulated and implemented during crisis may prove difficult to change or reverse when the crisis has passed,” concludes the report, the first to take a comprehensive look at American cyber war capabilities. The research council is the working arm of the National Academy of Sciences.

The U.S. government has spoken only broadly about cyber warfare in the past, noting its value as a national security tool. Officials routinely refuse to talk about computer attacks America has launched.

posted by Fergie @ 4/29/2009 07:46:00 PM