The commander of the military’s computer operations says the government should create a “secure zone” for federal agencies, financial networks and critical infrastructure.
Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, says that must be done carefully so it doesn’t affect the millions of people in the U.S. who use the Internet every day.
Finding a way to meet both goals will take time and debate, but is necessary to protect vital systems from the growing threat of attacks from other countries and criminals.
The White House, Congress and industry leaders are at loggerheads over any hint of government control, regulation or influence over the Internet. They are struggling to come up with a solution that protects national security without appearing to limit or monitor people’s online activities.
Alexander told a small group of reporters Wednesday evening that federal officials are hashing out how best to conduct cyberwarfare and how to respond to an attack that knocks out banking systems, shuts off electricity or takes control of a nuclear power plant.
“You could come up with what I would call a secure zone, a protected zone, that you want government and critical infrastructure to work in that part,” said Alexander, who also testified Thursday before the House Armed Services Committee. “At some point it’s going to be on the table. The question is how are we going to do it.”
He added that setting up such a system “technically is fairly straightforward. The hard part is working through making sure everyone is satisfied with what we’re going to do,” and explaining it to the public.
Federal and commercial computer networks are scanned and attacked millions of times a day by hackers, criminals and other countries. Their goals are to steal money, ferret out sensitive data or disrupt and destroy critical operations.
Alexander said the administration’s internal discussions…