WASHINGTON - The Pentagon on Thursday unveiled an unclassified portion of its first cyberspace strategy, recognizing cyberspace as "an operational domain to organize, train, and equip."

"It is the first DoD (Department of Defense) unified strategy for cyberspace and officially encapsulates a new way forward for DoD's military, intelligence and business operations," the Pentagon said in a statement.

The document, entitled Department of Defense Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace (DSOC), was formally unveiled by Deputy Secretary of Defense William J Lynn during a speech at the National Defense University in Washington. An unclassified version was posted on the Pentagon's website.

"This (strategy) allows DoD to organize, train, and equip for cyberspace as we do in air, land, maritime, and space to support national security interests," the document says.

The blueprint also features a significant shift from "passive" to "active" defense against potential cyber threats. It defines active defense as the Pentagon's "synchronized, real-time capability to discover, detect, analyze, and mitigate threats and vulnerabilities."

As part of its active defenses, the Pentagon would introduce new operating concepts and capabilities on its networks, such as sensors, software and signatures to detect and stop malicious code before it affects US operations.

The long-expected strategy is likely to cause concerns, both within the US and aboard, over possible US attempt to militarize cyberspace and gain dominance in the new warzone, analysts said.

During the speech, Lynn apparently tried to downplay those concerns, stressing its focus remains on defense.

"Our strategy's overriding emphasis is on denying the benefit of an attack," he said. "Far from militarizing cyberspace, our strategy of securing networks to deny the benefit of an attack will help dissuade military actors from using cyberspace for hostile purposes."