Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), a member of the Homeland Security committee, said President Obama should publicly name Russia and do so before the November election. A failure to do so will only encourage further cyber intrusions and meddling in the U.S. election, he said.
“If the Obama administration has a reason for not clearly attributing these hacks to Russia, it contradicts their own cyber strategy,” Sasse said. “If they’re silent because it would invite response, that suggests that we’re operating from a position of weakness — in other words, we know that we need to aggressively deter cyberattacks, but we are too vulnerable to do it. Neither scenario is reassuring.”
Even as the administration awaits the FBI results, consideration has begun at the staff levels of potential ways the United States might respond. Options in the mix include the first use of a program to impose economic sanctions to deter significant network attacks or intrusions. Created last year by executive order, it permits the sanctioning of individuals overseas linked to malicious cyber acts that threatened the national security or foreign policy of the United States.
“Clearly trying to surreptitiously influence U.S. elections would be a pretty bold move,” said a second administration official, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the topic’s sensitivity. So sanctions might be an appropriate response, the official said.
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