Defense Department Weathered 'Year Of The Hacker'

While 2011 could be considered the “year of the hacker,” government efforts prevented cyberattacks from having any major effect on Defense Department systems, Gen. Keith Alexander, head of U.S. Cyber Command, told a House subcommittee on Tuesday.

While targeted attacks against defense networks and websites were successfully blocked, the threat has increased over the past year with a possibility of moving towards attacks aginst critical infrastructure, he said. “We believe it is only a matter of time before someone employs capabilities that could cause significant disruption to civilian or government networks and to our critical infrastructure here in the United States,” said Alexander, who is also director of the National Security Agency. 

The hearing was held to examine Defense cybersecurity and information technology budgets with a portion of the defense budget up for cuts.