President's council would task military with backup telecom during cyber power outage

A presidential council on protecting critical infrastructure is calling on the Defense Department to have a central role in developing a nationwide backup communications system for use during a catastrophic electric power outage from a cyber attack or physical disaster -- or both.

“Restoration and recovery are next to impossible without working communications systems,” according to a recent report by the President's National Infrastructure Advisory Council. “Existing plans and exercises rely on the ability to coordinate response via voice or...