The US Administration is considering a Manhattan type project, where they get all the smart guys together to work out a way to solve a problem. In the 1940's it was a race to nuclear dominance, this year it's a race to internet dominance.

The major thrust of the large scale of penetration attacks on the US government and defense contractors seems to be coming from China. 

Can the US put a team together to neutralise the cyber attacks being carried out on an increasing scale?

I think it's possible to stop it but I can't speak for their team. The problem seems to be defeating the Chinese government too, as they don't seem to be able to stop it at their borders, assuming that they're trying. I hope that it doesn't extend to the financial industry, but we might be safer there since China has become semi-capitalist, they stand to lose as well if there is interuption to the US/global financial system.

It is definitely time for a rethink of the whole internet business. Children need to be protected from perverts and if the cyber-bullying stats are accurate, teenagers are being cyber-bullied by each other even more than the US Government and defence contractors are, so they need some protection too. Not to forget the average citizen, and the probably 10 million or so who have already been direct victims of cyber-criminals. 

I was invited to assist in securing the US data networks by the FBI after September 11th but felt that it was a good time to stay at home, and losing a family friend on one of the planes didn't encourage my family to let me go. I didn't think that the 'terrorists' represented much of a threat to cyberspace so I didn't really feel the need to help back then and I was right. Perhaps they could make a proper effort this time and do it on a global scale, it's long overdue and I'd be happy to help with that.

Having a certain familiarity with the defence technologies 'hidden in the cupboards' in the US, I would also be quite alarmed to see any of it get into the 'wrong hands'. I don't pretend to be political, I just think that one set of hands is enough for that sort of stuff, so I don't really care what your views are, it's a question of being in control or all being victims, one way or the other. Perhaps this is the time where we take the internet along with us into the 21st century and not leave it like the wild west any longer, and Uncle Sam has a lot of incentive to help.

I have a few ideas of my own, but I'll let you come up with some. There are plenty of things we can do but I haven't heard too many good ideas yet, so if you have any, now is the time to wheel 'em out and give them a shine up, because it just might be the financial networks next.