TIMEs new cover: Inside the secret plan to stop Putins election plot:

[kpete]

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Link to tweet

[dalton99a]

1. Why is this not an act of war?

[Xolodno]

2. Well one, the US hasn't defined what constitutes an act of war in cyberspace.

I suspect the US has been very hesitant on this as, sad to say, may have conducted operations in this arena, in addition to some notable allies, for example, Israel against Iran, US against North Korea, etc.

Internationally, there hasn't been a "Geneva Convention", United Nations Treaty, etc. that really defines this as an aggressive act of war. Putin could do a press conference in the Amber Room of the Kremlin and say he was totally behind the hacking of the US election and it would not constitute an act of war. He would get some public flak from a number of governments, but behind the scenes, he'll get some pats on the back for bringing this to the forefront. And perhaps force a treaty, at the least, to limit cyber warfare... and sad to say, very good chance our government would be the most opposed to this as we do hold a distinct advantage here.

[Hoyt]

3. Even if it is, what are we going to do, bomb Russia?

The only thing to do is bolster our cyber security so it doesn't happen again and continue screwing with their systems, and that of other foreign countries. It's not like we don't hack other countries, or sometimes screw with elections.

Was our security system lax, or did Ruskies get help?

[ProudLib72]

4. There is more to your question I think

What would happen if we launched an all out attack in cyber space? Would battle in cyber space eventually escalate to battle in the physical world? I can see a special ops team raiding some secret server warehouse in Eastern Europe. It's all very cat and mouse right now, but I wonder what will happen when Dems take back congress in 2018.

[Worktodo]

5. Go watch the documentary Zero Days

There's a degree of likelihood that there's been a world wide cyberwar going on for about a decade now (pre-Obama). Sort of like the old proxy wars except this one is virtual, and keeping everything secret is part of the cat and mouse game. The secrecy aspect on the US side partly explains the blunted response to the election hacking.

Cyberwar is different than war-war. No one would ever want to admit capabilities and weaknesses in such a fluid landscape -- i.e. having the ability to hack critical infrastructure is only useful if that capability is unknown. However capabilities must be actively developed even if unused.

The sanctions against Russia were a direct response to interference.

[Skittles]

6. because repukes are benefiting from it

[trueblue2007]

7. treason !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NBachers]

8. What about the overt plan to continue Putin's election plot? It's happening right in front of us.