Russian Hacking: The Difficult Path Between Inaction and Escalation

Now that the Obama administration has publicly attributed the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and other political entities to “Russia’s senior-most officials,” the question remains, how will the U.S. respond to Russia’s meddling in the coming elections? After all, as James Lewis, Senior Vice President and Director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, argues, “one essential lesson for cybersecurity is that unpunished acts are seen as a green light by an attacker.”

The Obama administration has indicated it will pursue a “proportional” response, but Russian action in the cyber sphere cannot be disconnected from the physical realm. The Cipher Brief’s Matt Olsen, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, suggests “the Russian interference with our election is part of the broader context of Russian actions around the world, both in cyberspace and on the ground.”

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