The military's might increasingly depends on computers, but that created a target for the enemy. Air Force Academy cadets are finding out this week how hard it can be to protect computers from bad guys. . . .
The military's might increasingly depends on computers, but that created a target for the enemy. Air Force Academy cadets are finding out this week how hard it can be to protect computers from bad guys.

They are playing defense against some of the best hackers: computer experts from military and intelligence agencies.

It's the second annual Cyber Defense Exercise, a competition involving the Air Force Academy, the Military Academy at West Point, the Naval Academy, the Coast Guard Academy and the Naval Postgraduate School.

Students at each school are being attacked by the professionals and scored on how well they defend their systems. The competition began Monday and ends Friday.

Computer defense is critical for the military, which has 2 1/2 million computers and is finding the number of cyber attacks is exploding.

In 2000, there were more than 23,000 attempted attacks, but officials refuse to say who was attacking. Last year, attacks jumped to more than 41,000, said Army Maj. Barry Venable, spokesman for Colorado Springs-based U.S. Space Command, which oversees computer defense.

Attacks are up, but the military has gotten better at defending their systems, Venable said

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