Pentagon gets cyberwar guidelines

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama has signed executive orders that lay out how far military commanders around the globe can go in using cyberattacks and other computer-based operations against enemies and as part of routine espionage in other countries.

Defense officials and cyber security experts say the orders detail when the military must seek presidential approval for a specific cyber assault on an enemy. They say the orders weave cyber capabilities into the war fighting strategy.

The orders, signed more than a month ago, cap a two-year Pentagon effort to draft U.S. rules of the road for cyber warfare, and come as the U.S. begins to work with allies on global ground rules.Officials say the guidelines are much like those that govern the use of other weapons of war.