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It’s not that we can’t fight back. We have stunning, close-held capabilities to respond with punishing cyber-strikes of our own. We have the intelligence. We have the targets.
But the order never comes.
We’re bleeding money, government secrets, technology secrets, corporate strategies — and seem to have suffered trial attacks on our critical infrastructure. Why won’t the Obama administration do anything to retaliate against Chinese cyber-assaults?
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There are no valid reasons not to counter attack. All that is lacking is the will. If the administration is concerned about the Chinese response it is because its policies have made us weaker. We should give them an ultimatum that future attacks will result in counterattacks without warning.
There is always a tendency to hold back on using your best weapons. Sometimes, they can be devastating once, only to be rendered impotent in the future because they are understood. To go back to an earlier cyberweapon, suppose the Germans had known, without doubt, that the Allies were reading their Enigma codes? Cyberweapons can be very much one shot. So if it is not a kill shot, hold your fire. That is not to say that we should not be doing something at least comparable to make them keep their heads down.
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