The Pentagon's new strategy to deal with hackers is to strengthen its computer systems and those of its military contractors. But Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that policy is just a start. He said that over the next decade the military would move beyond building better firewalls and make clear to adversaries that
they will pay a price for serious cyber-attacks. "There is no penalty to attacking us now. We have to figure out a way to change that," Gen. Cartwright said.
The cost of cyber-attacks is massive: It has meant the theft of thousands of files from the U.S. government, allies and private industry. Each year, a volume of intellectual property exceeding the size of the Library of Congress is stolen from U.S. government and private-sector networks, the Pentagon says.