Obama urged to get tough on cyber attacks

America is losing the cyber war, according to a report issued this week.
The US Department for Homeland Security has failed to protect vital information from foreign attacks, says the report. It suggests that a new "National Office for Cyberspace" might do a better job.
The US faced a wave of cyber attacks last year. The Department of Homeland Security itself was attacked, as were the Departments of Defense, State and Commerce. The unclassified email of the Secretary of Defense was hacked, and the Department of State lost terabytes of information.
That prompted a policy research body called the Center for Strategic and International Studies to assemble a group of cybersecurity experts to review current practices and draw up a list of recommendations for the next administration - as published in this week's report.
The group concludes that internet security measures are still inadequate. Years of under-investment in international relations have weakened America's standing in the world, and encouraged the country's opponents to increase cyber attacks, it says. Those attacks rank alongside terrorism and weapons of mass destruction as threats to the US and its allies.
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