WASHINGTON: The United States is considering economic sanctions against Chinese firms and individuals that profited from cyber attacks on American targets, a senior administration official said on Monday.

Following a spate of cyber attacks on US companies and government agencies that have been widely blamed on China, the official said that Washington would respond “in a manner and timeframe of our choosing”.

In April, President Barack Obama signed an executive order, paving the way for tougher sanctions against “malicious cyber actors”.

“The administration is pursuing a comprehensive strategy to confront such actors,” the official said.

“That strategy includes diplomatic engagement, trade policy tools, law enforcement mechanisms, and imposing sanctions on individuals or entities”. “We are assessing all of our options to respond to these threats in a manner and timeframe of our choosing,” the official added.

The United States has struggled to build an effective deterrence against a wave of increasingly damaging cyber attacks.

The government’s intrusion detection system “Einstein” recently failed to prevent a breach of sensitive data on millions of senior personnel.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2015

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