From Bill Gertz, Inside the Ring:  The president is ready to approve military cyberattacks or "kinetic" bombing raids in response to major cyberattacks on the United States, according to a Pentagon report to Congress.

"The President reserves the right to respond using all necessary means to defend our nation, our allies, our partners, and our interests from hostile acts in cyberspace," says the report, titled "Department of Defense Cyberspace Policy Report."

"Hostile acts may include significant cyberattacks directed against the U.S. economy, government or military. As directed by the president, response options may include using cyber and/or kinetic capabilities provided by DoD."

The Pentagon is working to bolster intelligence gathering and other efforts to improve the ability to trace the origin of attacks, the report says.

"This research focuses on two primary areas: developing new ways to trace the physical source of an attack, and seeking to assess the identity of the attacker via behavior-based algorithms," the report says, noting that new methods are set to be used on defense networks in the near future to detect, track and report malicious computer activities.  (graphic: Defense Tech)

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