Cyber Attacks on DoD Could Be Decreasing

With the way generals talk, you would think the Pentagon's networks are under constant attack, but according to Wired, incidents of "malicious cyber activity" at Defense are decreasing in 2010, the first time since the turn of the millennium.

According to the report, in the first six months of 2010, there were about 30,000 incidents of cyberattack. That compares to more than 71,000 total in 2009. "If the rate of malicious activity from the first half of this year continues through the end of the year . . . 2010 could be the first year in a decade in the quantity of logged events declines," according to Wired, quoting a draft report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

That trend contrasts somewhat with what the Pentagon has said. In April at his confirmation hearing, Cyber Command and National Security Agency Chief Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander said he was "alarmed by the increase, especially this year" in the number of attempts to scan military networks for potential vulnerabilities, Wired reported.