By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military command that transports troops and cargo is taking aggressive steps to defend its computer networks against destructive cyber attacks by other countries and criminals, its four-star commanding general said on Thursday.
Air Force General Paul Selva, who heads U.S. Transportation Command, said that while attacks aimed at scoping out their networks, or stealing data were more common, he worried "a lot" about attempts aimed at destroying or manipulating data.
The command recently created a new around-the-clock joint command and control center, which included intelligence and law enforcement officials, to track and monitor threats, and would allow a shutdown of the network, if necessary, he said.
"We have not detected any attacks that have actually come in and destroyed data," Selva told a defense writers group. "We watch for those very, very carefully. If they could get in and damage and destroy the logistics command and control data, that worries me a lot."
Selva said Transportation Command remained a key target of persistent cyber attacks traced to Russia, China and other countries, but also saw attacks launched by criminal groups.
Selva's remarks came days after investigators looking for the culprits of a devastating hack into Sony Pictures Entertainment found hacking tools similar to those used by North Korea in previous attacks on South Korea. Pyongyang has denied it was behind the attack.
Selva said he was not aware of any specific attacks on Transportation Command's networks that had been linked to North Korea, though that did not mean they did not exist.
The command has shut its computer networks for hours at a time to test whether it could continue to supply forces using phone lines and other "manual" systems, Selva said.
To date, he said, there had not been an actual attack serious enough to warrant shutting the network for real.
The command was also requiring commercial airlines and other firms that help ferry troops and equipment to notify U.S. military officials of any breaches of their own private networks, even if they did not involve military data.
"It's any intrusion into their network because that gives us a picture of a threat that may be coming at us," he said.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Alan Crosby)