Divisions Seen In Administration Over Cyberthreats

A long-standing debate within the Obama Administration over how to characterize the cyberthreat has complicated the US effort to lay out a government-wide cybersecurity strategy. At issue is whether the nation faces the prospect of cyberwar and needs to prepare for it. The Pentagon says yes. Howard Schmidt, the White House coordinator for cybersecurity, sees such talk as "hype" and rejects the "cyberwar" term.

"My father was in a war, my son has been in a war, I've been in a war, and this is not what we're going through right now," Schmidt said. "There are a whole lot of ramifications about using that term in any context, and even more in using the term 'cyberwar.'" Schmidt argues that the cyberattacks being carried out currently against U.S. government and private computer networks fall under the categories of cybercrime, espionage and the theft of intellectual property.