Feds Prepare for Cyberwar

Readying for a new cyber doomsday in which Americans wake to find the power off, cell phones dead, and no access to cash, the Bush administration is considering creating an agency to protect critical public and private computers. Experts say that any attack, which would likely originate in China, would find the US woefully easy to take down, ABC reports.

"A Chinese general has talked about how they would reach out through cyberspace and turn off the power grid before any conflict with the United States," said a former White House counterterrorism official, while an internet security expert says China has free run of US networks—indeed, Chinese hacked into the defense secretary's computers in June. The administration is seeking $6 billion in funding. (More China stories.)