Clinton Promises to Hit Back Against Foreign Hackers

The United States will act in response to foreign hacking the same as any other attack to its sovereignty, vows Hillary Clinton.

There are legitimate questions as to how the US government should defend itself after a cyber attack. As of the moment, the Obama administration is still writing its rulebook.

Identifying who’s responsible remains to be a challenge as there are a number of usual suspects. These range from bored teenagers to cybercriminals and foreign hackers. Making it more difficult is the fact that experienced hackers can cover their tracks and also lead security experts astray.

Cybersecurity experts were surprised when Clinton made aggressive remarks about retaliating with political, economic or even military measures. Her aggressive strategy propositions ran against the State Departments policy of avoiding open conflict since it may muddle diplomatic efforts.

When asked during the presidential debate how she would respond to cyberattacks, Clinton said, “We’re going to have to make it clear that we don’t want to use the kinds of tools that we have. We don’t want to engage in a different kind of warfare. But we will defend the citizens of this country.”

Cybersecurity was at the forefront of the national security segment of the presidential debate for the first time. This thereby proves its current political significance. It also highlights the fact that the next president will influence the 21st century cyberwarfare policies. This includes establishing rules on how the US responds to foreign hackers.

While Trump has not issued any official position on the subject, Clinton confronts the matter in one and a half pages of her 288-page campaign book.

Just recently, in the midst of the presidential race, there were a rash of hacks on government sites. Cybersecurity firms, Democrats and Clinton blamed these attacks on Russia. The White House is struggling over how to counter hacking. Some officials said it was an attempt to undermine voter confidence in the election.

Still learning the ropes

Former general counsel for the National Security Agency said that they are in the very early stages of developing the rules by the benefit of the attacks that they saw.

He added that responding is a challenge: “How do you know who’s responsible for the attack and to what extent are the cyber actors even susceptible to the normal responses like economic or diplomatic pressure?”

Clinton’s stand on cybersecurity started while she was with the State Department. At that time, she created the Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues to handle diplomacy and cyber rules.

According to Christopher Painter, who served as the office’s coordinator since its launch, there was no other office in the world like it when it was created 5 years ago.
Now there are 25 counterparts around the world and more on the way.

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