"Preemptive counterattack" is taking on a whole new meaning. Though the US military has long maintained a policy of securing its networks and reserving a right to attack those who attack its networks, the issues of going on the offensive is now being discussed. This is not a new issue, but it has come to light recently due to increasing attacks on US networks and changes in the legal and political spheres. Critics are already pointing to the fact that these types of attacks often cause unintended collateral damage, similar to concerns I discussed in
prior posts about the Waladec botnet takedown. To read more about the discussion, check out the
Washington Post column.