It was bound to happen. The U.S. military has been preparing secret tactics and strategies for attacking terrorist groups on a digital and network level. While terrorist groups have been using the Internet as a means for attack, the U.S. is devising plans to respond to the threat. When it begins though, who knows how the Internet will evolve.

The U.S. military has been quietly developing capabilities to attack enemy computer networks, including hacking into terrorist Web sites, military officials and experts say.

The move comes as al-Qaida and other groups fighting in Iraq and elsewhere have expanded their activities on the Internet and increased the sophistication and volume of their videos and messages. Much of the material is designed to raise money and recruit fighters for Iraq.

“You should not let them operate uncontested” on the Internet and elsewhere in cyberspace, said Marine Brig. Gen. John Davis, who heads a military command located at the National Security Agency. The command was established to develop capabilities to attack computer networks.

Davis and other officials declined to say whether the military has attacked computer networks, which would require presidential authorization. The techniques are highly classified.[more]

Tags: Hackers