The admiral who directs American cyberforces told a Senate committee on Thursday that the United States was “at a tipping point” where it needed to increase its ability to conduct cyberattacks, to create a deterrent against other countries that are attacking it.The growing American capabilities in cyberweapons are hardly a secret: They were critical to a yearslong American and Israeli cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, and descriptions of the placement of “implants” in foreign computer systems — for surveillance and potential offensive action — run through thousands of pages of documents released by Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/us/us-must-step-up-capacity-for-cyberattacks-chief-argues.html