Face of War (Photo : Daria Marchenko)
The United States is reportedly bent on launching a cyberattack against Russia as retaliation for the recent hacking of the Democratic National Convention's computer system. Will the planned virtual action from Washington trigger a physical response from Moscow that could lead to a shooting war?
NBC reported that following the accusations made by the U.S. government that Russia was the state actor behind the DNC hacking and Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to influence the outcome of upcoming presidential election, a cyber counter attacks appears pretty imminent. A strike coming from the U.S. is only expected, the report said, adding that the Russian-sponsored hacking to go unpunished will hurt the American credibility.
Washington has already made public that Putin was to blame for the attack so a response for the world to witness seems only automatic, the report added.
"If you publicly accuse someone ... and don't follow it up with a responsive action, that may weaken the credible threat of your response capability," NBC reported Sean Kanuck, a former intelligence official with expertise on Russian affairs, as saying.
The report added that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been tasked to draw the plan for an attack and that proposals have been made and submitted for approval of U.S. President Barack Obama. And that an attack is imminent seemed to have been hinted by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in a recent interview.
"We're sending a message to Putin ... and that it will be at the time of our choosing, and under the circumstances that will have the greatest impact," NBC quoted Biden as saying.
When exactly the cyberattack will happen remains a big question mark but according to Engadget, Obama is likely to drop the plan and opt for the traditional route of retaliation - imposing sanctions. But starting war in cyberspace may not be too appealing to Obama as senior intelligence officials admitted that what the American can do, the Russians can certainly replicate.
The Engadget report also noted that the supposed clandestine attack being discussed in public seems to be shaping up as a mere "political ploy." Citing a recent tweet posted by whistleblower WikiLeaks, the report said that a covert attack getting announced ahead seems not a good start for a serious tussle that could escalate into a nuclear showdown.
And WikiLeaks maintains that if indeed the U.S. will get back to Russia in the cyber platform, the lead agency will have to the NSA and not the CIA, per the Engadget report.
