] President Bush has signed a secret directive ordering the
] government to develop, for the first time, national-level
] guidance for determining when and how the United States
] would launch cyber-attacks against enemy computer
] networks, according to administration officials.
]
] Similar to strategic doctrine that has guided the use of
] nuclear weapons since World War II, the cyber-warfare
] guidance would establish the rules under which the United
] States would penetrate and disrupt foreign computer
] systems.
]
] The United States has never conducted a large-scale,
] strategic cyber-attack, according to several senior
] officials. But the Pentagon has stepped up development of
] cyber-weapons, envisioning a day when electrons might
] substitute for bombs and allow for more rapid and less
] bloody attacks on enemy targets. Instead of risking
] planes or troops, military planners imagine soldiers at
] computer terminals silently invading foreign networks to
] shut down radars, disable electrical facilities and
] disrupt phone services.

] President Bush has signed a secret directive ordering the
] government to develop, for the first time, national-level
] guidance for determining when and how the United States
] would launch cyber-attacks against enemy computer
] networks, according to administration officials.