Analysis: In cyber era, militaries scramble for new skills

"We are busy and we are getting busier every day," Lt Gen Rhett Hernandez, a former artillery officer who now heads U.S. Cyber Command, told a cyber security conference in London last month organized by British firm Defence IQ.

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"Cyberspace requires a world-class cyber warrior ... we must develop, recruit and retain in a different way to today."

Even in an era of shrinking western military budgets, funding for cyber security is ratcheting up fast. The Pentagon's 2012 budget allocated $2.5 million to improve cyber capabilities.

In December, the U.S. Army announced its first "cyber brigade" was operational, whilst the U.S. Navy and Air Force have their own cyber "fleets" and "wings."

Not only are they tasked with protecting key U.S. military systems and networks, but they are also working to build offensive skills that U.S. commanders hope will give them an edge in any future conflict.

These, insiders say, include developing the ability to hack and destroy industrial and military systems such as traffic and electricity controls.

"For better or worse, it is American military thought that is leading American societal thought (in) how to think about things cyber," former CIA director and Air Force Gen Michael Hayden told a security conference in Munich this month.

European, Latin American, Asian and Middle Eastern and other nations are seen following suit. Militaries had barely considered the Internet only a few years ago are building new centers and training hundreds or even thousands of uniformed personnel.

Russia and China are believed to put even greater emphasis on a field in which they hope to counter the conventional military dominance of the U.S.

But some worry much investment may be wasted.