| Fears grow over the risk of the militarisation of the internet |
| Friday, 28 May 2010 10:16 | |||
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The US military has appointed its first cyber warfare general, according to The Guardian.
The Pentagon has created a specialist online unit which will focus on counter cyber attacks as the country grows increasingly fearful of the militarisation of the internet. The plans originated from George Bush's time as President, but have been stepped up under Obama's presidency after he called it "one of the most serious economic and national security challenges" last year. Keith Alexander is the four-star general tasked with leading the specialist online unit. He said the Pentagon's networks are targeted by hundreds of thousands of probes every day, which makes him feel "alarmed by the increase, especially in this year". It's not just the American government that has been subjected to cyber attacks. Last year, Google and 20 other companies were prominently attacked online. The blame is being placed on hackers from China, Russia and North Korea, but the nature of the internet makes it a global issue. There are steps that any business can take to safeguard their data, should they get caught in the crossfire of cyber warfare. This can range from remote computer support, which should remove viruses from the computer, to preventative measures. Emails tend to be the gateway that viruses and other malware enter the business network, but something as simple as a service which screens emails for malicious content can prevent damaging material even reaching the computer. You can also make sure your firewall is secure, which is something many businesses don't consider. This is another method of blocking threats such as spyware or viruses. Former CIA director Michael V Hayden summed up the difficulties that the new specialist online unit faces, saying that cyber warfare techniques were evolving so rapidly that they were outpacing the government's ability to develop coherent policies to guide its use.
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