Forwarded From: Nicholas Charles Brawn <ncb05at_private> 17Jun98 USA: FIRST `CYBER WARRIOR' UNIT IS POISED FOR OPERATIONAL STATUS. By Bryan Bender Washington DC. The US Department of Defense (DoD) plans to stand up its first operational unit of `cyber warriors' by September to safeguard against and respond to computer attacks aimed at the US military, according to defence officials. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is assessing several proposals for a Computer Defense Joint Task Force and JCS chairman Gen Henry Shelton is expected to make a recommendation to Defense Secretary William Cohen, who will have direct authority over the organisation, in the near future. The JCS has a computer attack response cell within its directorate of operations, but it "has not been codified as a warfighting entity," said JCS spokesman Lt Cdr Jim Brooks. The task force, which will conduct defensive rather than offensive information operations, will have the necessary authority to take action in the event of information attacks. Officials are determining how the unit should be structured, where it should be and how much it will cost. They say that the new unit will have to have a high level of co-ordination with other federal agencies, particularly the Federal Bureau of Investigation, given the constitutional limitations placed on the US armed forces in the area of law enforcement. JCS sources add that the task force is only expected to be an interim solution to the rising need for a specialised unit to counter incidents of cyber warfare. A permanent unit, possibly under the authority of one of the US warfighting commanders-in-chief, is planned for the future. The Pentagon has seen a steep rise in computer attacks and other attempts either to access or contaminate DoD information networks. Art Money, the DoD's senior civilian overseeing computer operations, said on 10 June that the Pentagon experiences an average of 60 cyber attacks per week. -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Repent Security Incorporated [www.repsec.com]
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