Pentagon: Cyber attack could prompt US military response

A senior defense official has confirmed that cyber attacks against the United States could prompt a deadly military response.

“Yes, we need to think about the potential for responses that are not limited to the cyber domain,” said James Miller, undersecretary of defense for policy, who was asked about the possibility of using military force after a cyber assault.

However, James told AFPit remained “unclear” what actually constituted an “act of war” in the digital realm of cyberspace.

“Those are legal questions that we are attempting to address…There are certainly a lot of grey areas in this field.

“[Still], over the past decade, we’ve seen the frequency and the sophistication of intrusions into our networks increase…Our systems are probed thousands of times a day.”