U.S. military networks are thoroughly compromised, according to security experts, suggesting the Defense Department must invent strategies to protect its data from hackers.
Hackers, spies and other infiltrators are already inside military networks, according to what computer security experts told the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities.
"I think we have to go to a model where we assume that the adversary is in our networks," said James Peery, director of the Information Systems Analysis Center at the Sandia National Lab. "They're on our machines, and we've got to operate anyway. We have to protect the data anyway."
The Pentagon has not confirmed Peery's statement, but his remarks confirm FBI Director Robert Mueller's warning that cyber attacks willsoon surpass terrorism as the number one threat to the U.S. and its military.
The military remains a favorite target of hackers, which have breached everything from defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and IRC Federal to accounts containing soldiers' personal information.
Hackers even struck the Pentagon, defying its recent authority to launch missiles against cyber attackers backed by foreign governments.
Incidents like these suggest the U.S. military must find another way to protect its sensitive data, as firewalls and safety nets have proven insufficient. One way to combat hackers, especially those already inside military networks and backed by foreign governments, may be through counter cyber espionage.
The Central Command Digital Engagement Team already performs a similar role in the war on terror, persuading bloggers against posting extremist views and working to change popular opinion of America in Middle Eastern countries.
If a similar team uses the same tactics to influence hackers within compromised military networks, it may succeed in fending off at least some major data breaches.
Another way to improve military security may be to update hiring requirements, according to Dr. Michael Wertheimer, R&D director at the National Security Administration.
Cyber teams in Army, Navy and Air Force may not attract the best and brightest because they still require basic training and a six-month security clearance for all recruits. In contrast, the NSA does not have a stringent dress code or fitness requirements, attracting eccentric hackers who would find a military career too rigorous.
However the military decides to patch its broken networks, it needs to do so quickly and on several fronts, before hackers delve even deeper into national secrets
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