The Pentagon plans to more than triple its cybersecurity staff in the next few years to defend against Internet attacks that threaten national security

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said, "The Department of Defense is on its way to building a modern cyberforce. This force is enhancing our ability to deter aggression in cyberspace, deny adversaries their objectives, and defend the nation from cyberattacks that threaten our national security."

The Pentagon has been recruiting outside talent for the work as well as encouraging people already in the military to train for the jobs. By 2016, the Pentagon should have 6,000 cyber professionals, Hagel said. That compares to some 1,800 by the end of this year, said AP.

"Our nation's reliance on cyberspace outpaces our cybersecurity," Hagel said. "Our nation confronts the proliferation of destructive malware and a new reality of steady, ongoing and aggressive efforts to probe, access or disrupt public and private networks, and the industrial control systems that manage our water, and our energy and our food supplies."