The US military will establish a Cyber Command to safeguard its computers and allow operations in cyberspace after approval for the technology was given by Robert Gates, US Defense Secretary, on June 23rd. US Cyber Command will probably be headquartered at Maryland's Fort Meade military facility and while its coverage will extend to the US military's computers, it will not include any other networks, according to Bryan Whitman - a spokesman for the Pentagon.

Whitman did not elaborate on the subject of Cyber Command having an offensive as well as a defensive role. "This command is going to focus on the protection and operation of DoD (the US Department of Defence) networks", he explained, adding: "This command is going to do what is necessary to be able to do that."

Pentagon Computer Protection

The command, Whitman said, would reinforce the current Pentagon computer protection programme - a programme which the Nebraska-based US Strategic Command presently coordinates.

The US DoD is presently comprised of an estimated seven million individual PCs, which slot into 15,000 networks.

These networks, said Whitman, "are constantly probed."

"The power to disrupt and destroy, once the sole province of nations, now also rests with small groups and individuals, from terrorist groups to organized crime to industrial spies to hacker activists, to teenage hackers", he continued.

"We also know that foreign governments are trying to develop offensive cyber capabilities."

Cybercrime Prevention

In tandem with technological advances, the US military's susceptibility to computer hackers is a mounting 21st century concern among officials. In May 2009, Barack Obama, the US President, announced his intent to select a czar to oversee the US government's attempts at cybercrime prevention.

In the past, the US has looked to China when trying the establish the source of cyber attacks, but has never publically confirmed its suspicions.

It is anticipated that US Cyber Command will begin working at a basic level in October 2009, and be up to full capacity in 2010.

In recent comments contained within Armed Forces International's previous coverage of US Cyber Command, William Lynn, US deputy defense secretary, said that the US military regarded cyberspace as of equivalent importance to airspace and other areas of operations.