The US’ ability to engage in cyberwarfare is quickly outstripping its ability to determine when it’s appropriate to do so. That’s the conclusion of a report by the National Academies of Science, which evaluated the nation’s cyberwarfare capacity. The report suggests that, although international law provides some rough guidelines about when it may be appropriate to loose the virtual weaponry, offensive computer weapons have properties that make them distinct from those of traditional warfare, and the US hasn’t engaged in any sort of national debate or set a coherent policy that would regulate their use.
The report was prepared by two groups within the NAS: the Committee on Offensive Information Warfare and the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board. Both are populated largely from the academic world, but also include retired military officers and people in the private sector, such as employees of Google, Microsoft, and Sun. Funding for their evaluation was provided by the National Research Council (a branch of the NAS), Microsoft, and the MacArthur foundation.
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