synapse collapse

NYT:

The Pentagon plans to create a new military command for cyberspace, administration officials said Thursday, stepping up preparations by the armed forces to conduct both offensive and defensive computer warfare.

The military command would complement a civilian effort to be announced by President Obama on Friday that would overhaul the way the United States safeguards its computer networks.

This could be very interesting. It could also be a high-level announcement of something we’ll never hear of again. I’m guessing it’ll be neither. But I do hope that this first step and each step that follows are all done legally. Our last President didn’t seem to be aware of the confines of our bill of rights and our constitution.

But seriously, as long as there isn’t some loopy general in the Pentagon screaming that we need an American Anti-terrorist National Patriotic Great Firewall of These United States of America bigger than China’s, this is a Good Thing™ and has been a Long Time Coming™. A huge part of the new workload of the cybersecurity office in the White House and the cybersecurity command in the Pentagon will focus on securing our current infrastructure. “[The office] will coordinate a multibillion-dollar effort to restrict access to government computers and protect systems that run the stock exchanges, clear global banking transactions and manage the air traffic control system.”

This hits a lot of technology in a lot of industries, and if this is done well, everyone else stands to benefit from the trickle-down. I’m hopeful. Secure computing is attainable, but it’ll take a new approach and a ton of hard work to get there.