Protect and defend the nation's computers

Long before the 2001 al-Qaida attacks, security experts warned that U.S. government and corporate computers are far too vulnerable to terrorists, spies and tech-savvy criminals. In the wake of reports of a growing number of breaches, the Obama administration needs to make cyberdefense one of its national security priorities.

The president recently named Melissa Hathaway, a consultant who's worked on federal projects designed to foster cooperation between military and intelligence agencies, to oversee a 60-day review of cybersecurity measures.

Hathaway also will assess a congressional commission's recommendations, including a call for a special adviser on the topic who would report directly to the president rather than the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

A sustained focus is overdue. Federal tracking indicates that the number of incidents of unauthorized access to government computers jumped from 3,928 in 2007 to 5,488 in 2008. Officials, who won't say how many of the attempts caused damage, told USA Today that the numbers are only a sampling because just 1 percent of federal agencies have fully developed systems to track cyberattacks.

Last year, Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia - an outspoken critic of China's human rights record - reported that his government computers were breached. He said the cyber-attacks were traced to China and were also waged against other computers in Congress.

Espionage is a major concern, as is the potential for terrorists to use computers to disrupt banking, electricity providers, emergency communication systems and more.

During the Bush administration, officials cut the number of entry points to government computers from the Internet. But it appears those efforts, among others, weren't sufficient.

The attacks are "continuing to evolve and becoming much more sophisticated," according to Tiffany Jones, an executive with Symantec, the security software company. The protective measures by the federal government and corporate world need to adapt even more quickly.