Cyberwars

Is the CIA Ready for the Age of Cyberwar?

When America goes to the polls on November 8, according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials, it will likely experience the culmination of a new form of information war. A months-long campaign backed by the Russian government to undermine the credibility of the U.S. presidential election—through hacking, cyberattacks, and disinformation campaigns—is likely to peak on voting day, the officials said.

Russian officials deny any such effort. But current and former U.S. officials warn that hackers could post fictional evidence online of widespread voter fraud, release a final tranche of embarrassing hacked emails, and slow the internet to a crawl through cyberattacks.

“Don’t underestimate what they can do or will do. We have to be prepared,” Leon Panetta, who served as Central Intelligence Agency director and defense secretary in President Barack Obama’s first term, told me. “In some ways, they are succeeding at disrupting our process. Until they pay a price, they will keep doing it.”