U.S. Cyber Command is now fully operational, the Defense Department announced Nov. 3.

The new command, co-located with the National Security Agency in Ft. Mede, Md., is tasked with defending more than 7 million networked computers operating in 15,000 networks with 21 satellite gateways and 20,000 commercial circuits, according to figures quoted earlier this year by its commander, Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who is also head of the NSA. The command brings under one roof previously separated offensive and defensive military cyber capabilities.

Even as the command achieves full operational capability--a Pentagon term for when a system is deployed to a unit and the organization has the ability to employ and maintain it--questions still remain about the extent to which it would respond to an attack on domestic critical infrastructure.

The Defense and Homeland Security departments signed an agreement in September setting an agenda of cooperation over national security, but an actual cyber attack made by a foreign power intending to cause physical damage on American soil is still a just a hypothetical, as far as is publically known.

For more:
- see the DoD announcement of cyber command FOC

Related Articles:
Lewis: Cyber attacks likely would not be decisive during war
Q&A: Bob Gourley on the Cyber Conflict Studies Association
Lynn: Cyber deterrence rests mostly on denial, not retaliation
Is the threat of cyber war exaggerated?