FC: Bush signed secret order in July 2002 on offensive "cyberwar"

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38110-2003Feb6.html

Bush Orders Guidelines for Cyber-Warfare
Rules for Attacking Enemy Computers Prepared as U.S. Weighs Iraq Options
   
   By Bradley Graham
   Washington Post Staff Writer
   Friday, February 7, 2003; Page A01
   
   President Bush has signed a secret directive ordering the government
   to develop, for the first time, national-level guidance for
   determining when and how the United States would launch cyber-attacks
   against enemy computer networks, according to administration
   officials.
   
   Similar to strategic doctrine that has guided the use of nuclear
   weapons since World War II, the cyber-warfare guidance would establish
   the rules under which the United States would penetrate and disrupt
   foreign computer systems. [...]
      
   Bush signed the order, known as National Security Presidential
   Directive 16, last July but it has not been disclosed publicly until
   now. The guidance is being prepared amid speculation that the Pentagon
   is considering some offensive computer operations against Iraq if the
   president decides to go to war 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 to confirm or
   deny whether such planning was underway.
   
   [...]




-------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list
You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice.
To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html
This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/
Recent CNET News.com articles: http://news.search.com/search?q=declan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------