RSA conference: US to ramp up international fight against cyber crime

Governments and the private sector are still not taking security seriously enough, says Washington defence chief

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is to focus its attention on cyber warfare, according to US Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.

Carter outlined his government's plans this week at the RSA Conference in San Francisco.

He expressed concern that neither governments nor the private sector are yet taking security sufficiently seriously.

"Cyber will overtake terrorism as the persistent gnawing kind of threat and danger.

"The market, both economic and political, undervalues security at the moment. Doesn't see it. Doesn't fully get it. But this is wrong. This is a mistake."

He said the focus would be on developing and preparing the use of weapons of cyber warfare, preparing the US for what the cyber battlefield may look like, and listening for and analysing defence intelligence over the internet.

He also said the strategy would aim to defend both classified and unclassified networks, create technology using the DoD's "weight and resources" and distribute it to law enforcement agencies.