US wants cyber weapons that zap enemy defenses

The Defense Department is pushing ahead with efforts to develop next-generation cyber weapons capable of disrupting enemy military networks even when those networks are not connected to the Internet, reports The Washington Post.

The DOD and military services are hard at work developing cyber weapons that might confuse and interfere with key enemy assets, such as the air defense systems used by Iran and Syria, which are not dependent on Internet-based networks, according to the story.

Cyber experts and military planners estimate that it will take about a year to develop such capabilities, including the time required to probe the target system for vulnerabilities, the story said.