August 3, 2011: The U.S. Department of Defense has long
advocated going on the offensive against criminal gangs and
foreign governments that seek (and often succeed) to penetrate
U.S. government and military Internet security, and steal
information, or sabotage operations. Without much fanfare, the
Department of Defense has made preparations to do just that.
Since the military cannot afford to pay enough to recruit
qualified software and Internet engineers for this sort of work,
it has turned to commercial firms. There are already some out
there, firms that are technically network security companies,
but will also carry out offensive missions (often of
questionable legality, but that has always been an aspect of the
corporate security business.) Some of these firms have quietly
withdrawn from the Internet security business, gone dark, and
apparently turned their efforts to the more lucrative task of
creating Cyber War weapons for the Pentagon. It may have been
one of these firms that created, or helped create