Source:
The GuardianThe UK is developing a cyber-weapons programme that will give ministers an attacking capability to help counter growing threats to national security from cyberspace, the Guardian has learned.
Whitehall officials have revealed that the UK needs to have a new range of offensive options, and not just bolster defences around the country's critical services and government departments, which regularly come under attack from hackers.
The armed forces minister, Nick Harvey, told the Guardian that "action in cyberspace will form part of the future battlefield", and though he said cyber-weapons would not replace traditional weapons, he admitted he now regards them as "an integral part of the country's armoury". It is the first official acknowledgment that such a programme exists.
Recognising that there is bound to be concern about when such weapons are used and who would sanction it, Harvey said they would be governed by the same rules that apply to the deployment of other military assets such as special forces.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/30/military-cyberwar-offensive