A report by the US Department of Defense accused China’s government and military of targeting US government computers as part of a cyber-espionage campaign. The report said that Chinese attacks aimed to scoop up intelligence on US diplomatic, economic and defense sectors which could benefit China’s own military capabilities.

The British government admits that the “threat is real.” One of the recent examples is a message sent by hackers from the Twitter feed of the Associated Press, saying that the White House had been hit by the two explosions and that President Obama was injured. The fake tweet caused a sensation on Twitter and in the stock market.

Now to counterattack such security threats, the UK government is setting up cyber army to help defend national security. The government is looking to recruit hundreds of hackers into what they call a Joint Cyber Reserve. The new team of hackers, programmers, and cyber experts will be ready to launch strikes in cyber space if necessary.

As part of Ministry of Defense’s full-spectrum military capability, the Defense Secretary, Philip Hammond, has announced cyber reserve unit to work at the cutting-edge of the nation’s cyber defenses.

“In response to the growing cyber threat, we are developing a full-spectrum military cyber capability, including a strike capability, to enhance the UK’s range of military capabilities. Increasingly, our defense budget is being invested in high-end capabilities such as cyber and intelligence and surveillance assets to ensure we can keep the country safe,” Hammond said.

“The Cyber Reserves will be an essential part of ensuring we defend our national security in cyberspace. This is an exciting opportunity for internet experts in industry to put their skills to good use for the nation, protecting our vital computer systems and capabilities.”

Last year UK’s cyber defenses blocked around 400,000 advanced malicious cyber threats against the government’s secure internet alone. Recruiting for reservists to join the unit will start sometimes this month. The role of the unit is to protect computer networks and safeguard vital data. The MoD said the recruitment of reservists will target regular personnel leaving the armed forces, current and former reservists with the required skills and civilians with the appropriate technological skills and knowledge.

The defense secretary said, “Military capability doesn’t stand still. You cannot fossilize it. As much as we love and cherish our military traditions, the defense of the nation means we must spend money on the capabilities of tomorrow, not yesterday. I’m sure a healthy debate raged 100 years ago about whether to invest in new-fangled tanks and stop buying hay for the horses. Some will have said, ‘Buy more hay, not tanks.’”

The cost of setting up the new cyber strike unit could be as high as £500 million (about $800 million) over the next few years. The Joint Cyber Reserve will provide support to the Joint Cyber Unit (Corsham), the Joint Cyber Unit (Cheltenham) and other information assurance units across Defense. It will also provide support to UK’s intelligence hub GCHQ, Cheltenham.

GCHQ was recently in news on allegations of NSA spying brought to light by whistle-blower Edward Snowden. Snowden’s documents claim to show that the GCHQ was behind a cyber-attack against Belgacom, a partly state-owned Belgian telecoms company.

Focus point for major countries

Government departments and agencies are working with professional and representative bodies to ensure the consideration of cyber security becomes an integral part of corporate governance and risk-management processes.

Last year the Pentagon allocated $80 million dollars to defense giant Lockheed Martin for ongoing work on the National Cyber Range (NCR), a top secret facility that designs and tests attack tools for the government. As per the contract, Lockheed Martin and niche malware developers completed work on specially architected sensitive compartmented information facility with appropriate security protocols that emulates the public internet and other networks, and provides for the modeling of cyber-attacks.

Pentagon is also seeking technology to coordinate and bolster cyberattack capabilities through a funding experiment called ‘Plan X.’ The Plan X program seeks to integrate the cyber battlespace concepts of the network map, operational unit and capability set in the planning, execution, and measurement phases of military cyber operations.

The US intelligence agencies are employing elite teams of hackers to counter cyber-attacks. Under US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the organization is comprised of Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER); Air Forces Cyber (AFCYBER); Fleet Cyber Command (FLTCYBERCOM); and Marine Forces Cyber Command (MARFORCYBER).

NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence has identified over 50 countries that have published a cybersecurity strategy defining what security means to their future national and economic security initiatives. Australian government released its Cyber Security Strategy in 2009. It highlights the vitality of partnerships between industry, governments and the community in order to maintain a secure, resilient and trusted electronic operating environment. The government’s cyber security policy has a similar emphasis on partnerships with the private sector; while simultaneously referring to the fact that the Australian Government has an important leadership role.

Canada’s National Security Strategy is a shared responsibility, one in which Canadians, their governments, the private sector and our international partners all have a role to play. German has adopted a National Cyber Security Council (NCSC) to focus on addressing structural weakness in Germany’s national cyber security. The Dutch Cyber Security Council (CSR) was established for proactively and reactively advising the government and the private sector of cyber security and threat developments: advising on R&D, education and awareness issues, and reviewing the state of cyber security legislation from the point of view of human rights and data protection.