It is a potentially dangerous development, as cyber-attacks are increasingly common, with the Pentagon reporting millions of probes a day and actions by more than 100 foreign intelligence agencies.
In 2007, Estonia was almost crippled by a cyber-attack thought to originate in Russia. At the time, Estonia, a member of Nato, said it did not know if the alliance covered cyber-attacks, and the US, Britain and others danced round the issue.
The development is contained in a report by the Obama administration, International Strategy for Cyberspace, in which the US for the first time sets out a strategy for dealing with the expansion of the internet and what it describes as "arbitrary and malicious disruption". It notes the growing threats by individual hackers, companies and hostile states, and offers broad proposals on how to tackle these.
It suggests that existing US treaties such as the one that set up Nato, which requires an attack on one member state to be treated as an attack on all, also cover cyber-attacks. But it stops short of saying so categorically. "All states possess an inherent right to self-defence, and we recognise that certain hostile acts conducted through cyberspace could compel actions under the commitments we have with our military treaty partners," it says.
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Cyber Defense
The US military is preparing for 21st Century electronic warfare and cyber terrorism. A joint US Cyber Command and four service cyber commands have been set up.
Their mission is to defend American military networks and civilian American infrastructure from cyber terrorism and from foreign government hackers.
The officers leading these cyber commands explain how they are organized, how they operate, and how they will protect the United States from foreign military hackers, intelligence agencies, and cyber terrorists.
