How to Respond to Russia’s SolarWinds Cyberattack
Putin took cyberwar to a new level, and the U.S. could show some weapons it has kept hidden.
When Chinese hackers breached the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in 2014, scooping up the sensitive personal data of Americans holding government security clearances, the consensus among experts was that the intrusion was extremely damaging, but not out of bounds. “This is not ‘shame on China,’ ” explained Michael Hayden, the former head of the National Security Agency. “This is ‘shame on us’ for not protecting that kind of information.”
It would be a grave mistake to respond to a more recent — and more spectacular — alleged hack by Russian agents in the same way. The so-called SolarWinds breach represents a step up in cyberespionage, exposing a new degree of democratic vulnerability and authoritarian ambition.