28 January 2013, 11:02

US military to massively increases cyber security personnel

US DoD logo The US Department of Defense is to increase the size of its cybersecurity forces fivefold over the next few years, boosting the department's Cyber Command personnel from 900 to 4,900. Anonymous US officials said the expansion had been approved by the Pentagon at the end of last year, according to a report in the Washington Post.

Those officials noted that attacks, such as the one which wiped data from 30,000 computers at a Saudi Arabian state oil company last summer, had highlighted the gravity of the threat for the Pentagon.

The plan will involve the creation of three forces under Cyber Command. A "national mission force" will focus on US infrastructure, power grids and plants, a "combat mission force" will help commanders plan and execute offensive operations outside the US and "cyber protection forces" will shore up the Defense Department's own network defenses. The plan appears to go further than the cyber strategy plan presented in July 2011.

(djwm)

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