US understanding of cyberwar still immature, says former NSA director

The United States has accepted cyberspace as a domain for military activity, but lacks an effective military and political doctrine for conducting and defending itself against cyber war, retired Gen. Michael Hayden said at the Black Hat Briefings security conference. U.S. awareness of the importance of cyberspace dates back to the 1990s, but it is not analogous to the other domains in which the military operates, land, sea, air and space, said Hayden, who has directed the CIA and the National Security Agency. This has left the nation unprepared to depend itself, he said.