Cyberwar on ISIL accelerating

Defense Secretary Ash Carter made it clear today that the United States is now fully engaged in cyberattacks against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

"We are accelerating this as we are accelerating everything," he told reporters during a Pentagon news conference.

Moments earlier, Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford announced that U.S. forces were in the process of isolating the Iraqi city of Mosul in preparation to "increase the quality and quantity" of counter-ISIL operations.

Carter said the Pentagon could not disclose many details on its cyber efforts against ISIL, but noted that they went "beyond" typical electronic warfare that jams communication signals. He noted that U.S. Cyber Command was involved.

"This is the reason Cyber Command was created in the first place," he said.

Dunford said the cyber operations against ISIL represented a new type of warfare that would provide a variety of lessons learned for other combatant commanders.

"I think what we're building is an inventory of tools," he said.