now the "other guys" have justification

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Scott Bradner <sob () harvard edu>
Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 09:01:58 -0500 (EST)
To: dave () farber net
Subject: for IP - now the "other guys" have justification


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0302070442feb07,0,7620450
.story?coll=chi-news-hed


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0302070442feb07,0,7620450
.story?coll=chi-news-hed

U.S. drafting attack rules for cyber-war
By Bradley Graham
The Washington Post

February 7, 2003

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has signed a secret directive ordering the
government to develop, for the first time, guidelines for determining when
and how the United States would launch cyber-attacks against enemy computer
networks, according to administration officials.

Similar to the strategic doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons since World
War II, the cyber-warfare effort would establish the rules under which the
U.S. would penetrate and disrupt foreign computer systems.

The United States has never conducted a large-scale, strategic cyber-attack,
several senior officials said.

But the Pentagon has stepped up development of cyber-weapons, envisioning a
day when electrons might substitute for bombs and allow for more rapid and
less bloody attacks on enemy targets. Military planners imagine soldiers at
computer terminals silently invading foreign networks to shut down radars,
disable electrical facilities and disrupt telephone services.

Many specialists say this new form of weaponry has great potential, but
until now it has lacked presidential rules for deciding when to launch such
attacks, who would authorize and conduct them, and what targets would be
considered legitimate.

"We have capabilities, we have organizations, we do not yet have an
elaborated strategy, doctrine, procedures," said Richard Clarke, who last
week quit as Bush's top cyber-security adviser.

Bush signed the order, known as National Security Presidential Directive 16,
in July. The rules are being prepared amid speculation that the Pentagon is
considering offensive computer operations against Iraq if war breaks out
over Baghdad's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons development
programs.

"Whatever might happen in Iraq, you can be assured that all the appropriate
approval mechanisms for cyber-operations would be followed," said an
administration official who declined elaboration on the plans.

The current state of planning for cyber-warfare has frequently been likened
to the early years following the invention of the atomic bomb a more than 50
years ago, when thinking about how to wage nuclear war trailed the ability
to launch one.

In a first move last month to consult with experts from outside government,
White House officials helped arrange a meeting at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology that attracted about 50 participants from academia,
industry as well as government. The purpose was to consider formation of a
cyber-warfare studies association that could help develop a theoretical
framework.

But a number of participants expressed reservations about the United States
engaging in cyber-attacks, arguing that the nation's enormous dependence on
computer networks makes it highly vulnerable to counterattack.

"There's a lot of inhibition over doing it," said Harvey Sapolsky, an MIT
professor who was host at the Jan. 22 session. "A lot of institutions and
people are worried about becoming subject to the same kinds of attack in
reverse."


Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
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