Ross Wilkers
The 2010 Stuxnet virus attack on a uranium processing plant in Iran has provoked the country into building up its cyber capabilities, the U.S. Air Force‘s head of cyber operations said Thursday.
Reuters reports Gen. William Shelton, who also leads Air Force Space Command, told reporters Iran will become a force in the cyber realm and their capabilities will be a threat to the U.S.
Shelton said the Air Force is expecting a directive to grow its cyber workforce from 1,000 to 6,000 people, according to Reuters.
He also said he is pushing Air Force leaders to give more funds for cyber operations, the report said.
According to CNet, Shelton’s comments came in the same week when Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, Iran’s ground forces commander, told state media Iran is building electronic warfare systems.
He said Iran wants to jam communications systems and defend itself in cyberspace with the systems, CNet reports.
