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Photo by RIA Novosti Host Photo Agency/Alexander Vilf via Reuters

The U.S. Needs a Playbook to Respond to Russian Cyberattacks

On Wednesday, the cybersecurity agencies of several Western governments, including the United States, warned of the potential for increased cyber operations by Russia. If Moscow were to launch a cyberattack against a U.S. target, how should Washington respond?

According to Dmitri Alperovitch of Silverado Policy Accelerator and RAND's Samuel Charap, the most effective response to an initial wave of Russian cyberattacks would meet two potentially conflicting objectives: deterring further attacks but avoiding a spiral of tit-for-tat escalations that leads to a hot war between the world's two largest nuclear powers.

One way to thread this needle, they say, is to counter with a measured cyber strike against Moscow—rather than kinetic attacks or sanctions—along with a clear message that the United States will take further actions if Russia does not back down.

While this approach is not guaranteed to stop a second Russian cyberattack, it would create an opportunity to avoid escalation and could end a potential U.S.-Russia cyber fight after the first round.