The string of cyber attacks that were launched against corporate and government entities this year has placed a spotlight on the need for strengthened cyber defense in the U.S., and an ex-U.S. general is pushing for openness on the topic of cyber weapons and when they will be used.

James Cartwright, a recently retired four-starMarine Corps general who is now a fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, is urging the U.S. government to be more open about its use of offensive cyber weapons so that they may act as a deterrent.

“We’ve got to step up the game; we’ve got to talk about our offensive capabilities and train to them; to make them credible so that people know there’s a penalty to this,” said Cartwright. “You can’t have something that’s a secret be a deterrent. Because if you don’t know it’s there, it doesn’t scare you.”

via Daily Tech, continued here.