Cybersecurity

The U.S. needs to think about the unthinkable on cybersecurity

The United States may have pioneered the idea of fighting wars in cyberspace, but it’s our adversaries who are using cyberattacks most effectively. To deter them, the country needs creative new ways to punish nations if they launch the devastating attacks that are within their grasp.

The need for options to strike back at cyber-aggressors is obvious — and urgent. Despite the sanctions and indictments provoked by Russia’s attack on the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Russian President Vladimir Putin is doubling down on cyber-intrusions. In recent months, Microsoft reported that Russia was trying to infiltrate the computer networks of multiple congressional campaigns.

Worse, the Department of Homeland Security says Russia is making a major push to infiltrate U.S. power-plant control rooms.

The only debate is over Putin’s intent: Is he planning to shut off powerin the United States, as he is accused of doing in Ukraine in December 2016, or does he simply want to show that he can do so whenever he wants?