US Moves to Contain Collateral Damage from Cyberweapons

The fallout from cyberweapons and perhaps, one day, cyberdrones may not greatly impact Americans’ privacy or US computer security, former military officials say.

Speculation about impending cyberwarfare has followed recent revelations about a stealth virus and new US cyberoffensive tools. The virus Flame, a suspected US government invention, was reported in May to have long been harvesting information from computers in various Middle Eastern countries. Days after that account surfaced, The Washington Post reported that a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program aims to test unmanned cyberattacks that strike without human beings at the keyboard. The Pentagon has said only that it has the ability conduct offensive operations in cyberspace to defend the nation. There is reason for concern that foreign-aimed cyberassaults are backfiring on Americans by creating new vectors for cybercriminals and by breaching privacy. Yet, on the whole, some former hackers for the government say they’ve been surprised to see the Obama administration taking considerable care to minimize such risks.