US Military was "Cyber-Attacked" from the Middle East
The BBC reports how the US military faced a large-scale "cyber-attack" back in 2008:
A 2008 cyber attack launched from an infected flash drive in the Middle East penetrated secret US military computers, a Pentagon official says.
The attack by a foreign spy service was the "most significant breach" ever of US military networks, Deputy Defence Secretary William Lynn said.
Writing in Foreign Affairs magazine, Mr Lynn described it as a "digital beachhead" to steal military secrets.
He urged the US to speed up its cyber defence system procurement procedure.
Mr Lynn, the number two official in the Pentagon, wrote that the previously undisclosed 2008 attack began when an infected flash drive was inserted into a US military laptop at a base.
The computer code then spread stealthily through US military computer networks and readied itself to transfer military data to enemy hands, he wrote.
It is unclear whether the cyber spy effort succeeded in obtaining US secrets, and further details on the attack were unavailable.
In the article, Mr Lynn warned that US military dominance was threatened by the relatively low cost of cyber warfare.
"A dozen determined computer programmers can, if they find a vulnerability to exploit, threaten the United States' global logistics network, steal its operational plans, blind its intelligence capabilities, or hinder its ability to deliver weapons on target," he wrote.
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