Pentagon approves creation of cyber command

The Pentagon will create a Cyber Command to oversee the U.S. military's efforts to protect its computer networks and operate in cyberspace, under an order signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday. The new headquarters, likely to be based at Fort Meade (MD), outside Washington (DC), will be responsible for defending U.S. military systems but not other U.S. government or private networks, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Asked if the command would be capable of offensive operations as well as protecting the Department of Defense, Whitman declined to answer directly. Whitman said the new command will consolidate existing Pentagon efforts to protect its networks and operate in cyberspace. Those efforts currently come under the auspices of US Strategic Command in Nebraska, which will also oversee the new headquarters. The U.S. Department of Defense runs some 15,000 electronic networks and runs some 7 million computers and other information technology devices, Whitman said. The new command should begin initial operations by this October and be fully up and running a year later. The head of the Cyber Command would also be the director of the US National Security Agency, which conducts electronic surveillance and communications interception and is also based at Fort Meade.