Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

There Is No Cyberwar

Posted by kdawson on from the because-i-say-so dept.

crowfeather notes an interview with cybersecurity czar Howard Schmidt that Wired's Threat Level conducted this week. "Howard Schmidt, the new cybersecurity czar for the Obama administration, has a short answer for the drumbeat of rhetoric claiming the United States is caught up in a cyberwar that it is losing. 'There is no cyberwar,' Schmidt told Wired.com in a sit-down interview Wednesday at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco. 'I think that is a terrible metaphor and I think that is a terrible concept,' Schmidt said. 'There are no winners in that environment.' Instead, Schmidt said the government needs to focus its cybersecurity efforts to fight online crime and espionage. His stance contradicts Michael McConnell, the former director of national intelligence who made headlines last week when he testified to Congress that the country was already in the midst of a cyberwar — and was losing it. ... There's been much ink spilled in recent years over the turf battles in D.C. over whether the NSA (representing the military) or DHS (on the civilian side) takes the lead role in cybersecurity. But... "I haven't seen that tension," Schmidt said. As for which will take the cybersecurity lead, Schmidt simply says it's a shared effort."

8 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. So, wait... by Androclese · · Score: 4, Funny

    Are you telling me I planted my Cyber War Victory Garden and bought Cyber War Bonds for nothing?!

    1. Re:So, wait... by maxwell+demon · · Score: 5, Funny

      So tell me, who the hell do you have buried in the tomb of the Anonymous Soldier?

      An Anonymous Coward, of course.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  2. ***Hand Waive*** by bobcat7677 · · Score: 5, Funny

    There is no Cyber-War ...and these are not the droids you are looking for.

    1. Re:***Hand Waive*** by Itninja · · Score: 3, Funny

      Don't waive your hand! You're going to need it someday!

      --
      I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
  3. Re:This guy sounds out of touch by jimbolauski · · Score: 4, Funny

    Incompetence has never been a reason for dismissial in government why start now.

    --
    Knowledge = Power
    P= W/t
    t=Money
    Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
  4. Meh by Dracophile · · Score: 3, Funny

    There is no spoon.

    --
    Athy, athier, athiest.
  5. War on X by S77IM · · Score: 3, Funny

    We had a War on Poverty, and poverty increased.
    We had a War on Drugs, and drugs increased.
    We had a War on Terror, and terror increased.

    So, yeah, let's have a War on Cyber, and maybe cyber will increase too. Cybernetics? Cyborgs? Cyberspace? Cybering? I guess you take the good with the bad.

      -- 77IM

    --
    Student: Is it true that the foundation of the universe is paradox?
    Master: Well, yes and no.
  6. Yeah, right by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 2, Funny

    The First Rule of Cyberwar is...