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France announced its first cyber-warfare army unit on Monday, aimed at increasing the country's hacking skills as concerns grow in Europe and the United States about Russian capabilities.
Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian likened the impact of hacking on warfare to the effect of the first aircraft on conflicts in the early 20th century.
"The emergence of a new area, a new cyber-battlefield, must make us rethink profoundly our way of approaching the art of war," Le Drian said as he unveiled a new doctrine for the army in northwest France.
Le Drian said that under the new approach a cyberattack could constitute an act of war, which would require an appropriate response from a new specialised unit known as Cybercom.
If hackers were identified as coming from a country that had failed to stop them, "the responsibility of this state could be called into question," he said.
"Our offensive cyber-capabilities must allow us to breach the systems and networks of our enemies to cause damage, service suspensions or temporary or definitive neutralisations," he added.
The new French force will also work to identify foreign hackers and help identify weaknesses in important military IT networks, such as those used to pilot drones.
France's announcement mirrors plans drawn up by Britain, which last month launched a new cyber-defence plan backed by 2.1 billion euros ($2.2 billion) of funding.
The French unit will begin work next month and a team of up to 2,600 specialists will be created by 2019, Le Drian said.
http://phys.org/news/2016-12-hacker-threat-france-army-response.html
Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian likened the impact of hacking on warfare to the effect of the first aircraft on conflicts in the early 20th century.
"The emergence of a new area, a new cyber-battlefield, must make us rethink profoundly our way of approaching the art of war," Le Drian said as he unveiled a new doctrine for the army in northwest France.
Le Drian said that under the new approach a cyberattack could constitute an act of war, which would require an appropriate response from a new specialised unit known as Cybercom.
If hackers were identified as coming from a country that had failed to stop them, "the responsibility of this state could be called into question," he said.
"Our offensive cyber-capabilities must allow us to breach the systems and networks of our enemies to cause damage, service suspensions or temporary or definitive neutralisations," he added.
The new French force will also work to identify foreign hackers and help identify weaknesses in important military IT networks, such as those used to pilot drones.
France's announcement mirrors plans drawn up by Britain, which last month launched a new cyber-defence plan backed by 2.1 billion euros ($2.2 billion) of funding.
The French unit will begin work next month and a team of up to 2,600 specialists will be created by 2019, Le Drian said.
http://phys.org/news/2016-12-hacker-threat-france-army-response.html
