The Pentagon agency that invented the Internet wants to save it

So far, the cybersecurity war has been a lopsided rout. And it’s the bad guys who are on an epic winning streak. They’ve hacked into retailers, looting credit card information from Target and Home Depot, and stolen sensitive patient data from major health insurers. They’ve hit Hollywood, the media, the Pentagon. And in one of the largest attacks against the federal government, they recently rooted around in the databases of the Office of Personnel Management. But now the audacious Pentagon research agency that invented the Internet is trying to figure out how to protect it. The agency’s conclusion: We’re doing cybersecurity all wrong. Today, most network protective systems are like fire alarms; they sound when there’s smoke, and then the firefighters arrive to extinguish the flames. But the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, dubbed the “Department of Mad Scientists,” envisions a massive, automated computer system that not only detects the smoke, but prevents the...