The United States military has recently announced the creation of a new “cyber command”, which is intended to defend US interests. It should also give the US military the power to launch cyber offensives and wage war on the digital battlefield, in a bid to defend against the increasing threats against military computer networks.

This latest cyber command center will start operating in October and will take approximately one year to become fully operational. These announcements come at a time when cyber dominance has been viewed as an essential part of military strategy for the future, as the government has envisioned that it is just as important to have superiority on the digital battlefield as it is any other.

However, while the US military is embracing cyber warfare, many privacy advocates are concerned about the effects that such an offensive may have on privacy and other civil liberties. There is also a growing concern that this may lead to the militarization of cyberspace.

The United States has over seven million computers in its networks and it faces a real threat, as revealed by many recent penetrations of its networks. As a result, President Obama has announced that cyber security is to remain a top priority and revealed plans to create a national cyber defense coordinator to help advise and guide on issues.

By creating a cyber-deterrent, the government hopes to protect the USA against attackers from China, Russia and other rogue nations, which have built up a significant infrastructure to commit criminal cyber attacks against the United States and the western world.

At the same time, the White house promised to respect and safeguard privacy rights. However, after recent revelations regarding unlawful intercepts of domestic e-mail by the National Security Agency, it still remains uncertain how they will safeguard privacy and ensure that civil rights are maintained.

The British Government has recently announced the creation of a new agency focused on cybersecurity, as one of the latest measures to provide the country with a way to respond to the ever growing threat of digital attack.

The Office of Cyber Security (OCS) will be the first dedicated agency for the defense of the government’s critical IT infrastructure. This new agency will be similar to US based cyber-command operations. The OCS’s strategic headquarters will be located in a top of the range facility based at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in London.

The OCS will act not just to deal with the realms of cyberattack and defense, but they will also serve as liaison between the government and the information security industry. Effectively, the OCS aims to unify the security policies of the Ministry of Defense, intelligence services and the police.

Parts of these recent announcements reveal that the UK government will develop capabilities to launch aggressive attacks against identified cyber threats to the country. These capabilities include the ability to launch denial of service attacks and remote spying capabilities.

This new cyber security agency will initially start with a small team of highly trained experts. Based on successful models of the US cyber-command department, they will mirror themselves primarily on the United States’ success.

It seems clear that the United Kingdom wants to make it known that it will not be an easy victim, after many European countries have came under recent cyber attacks thanks to lackadaisical security policies and out of date hardware. The question still remains, though, as to whether or not the OCS will succeed in their vision to make UK cyber security virtually impenetrable.

Whether or not this proves to be a success remains to be seen.