The United States is prepared to go on the offensive in cyberspace to ensure adversaries know there is a price to pay for hacks, network intrusions and other types of attacks.
President Donald Trump signed a new National Cyber Strategy Thursday, calling for a more aggressive response to the growing online threat posed by other countries, terrorist groups and criminal organizations.
"My administration will use all available means to keep America safe from cyberthreats," Trump said in a statement, calling the new strategy an "important step."
Other key officials called the new strategy an important and badly needed change.
"We're not just on defense," National Security Advisor John Bolton told reporters. "We're going to do a lot of things offensively and I think our adversaries need to know that."
"Our hands are not tied as they were in the Obama administration," he added.
The strategy, which takes effect immediately, is being billed by the Trump administration as the first "fully articulated" cyber strategy in 15 years, providing direction to various departments and agencies on how best to protect their data as well as the private data of millions of Americans.
It also calls for specific measures to harden U.S. government networks from attacks, like the June 2017 intrusion into the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which compromised the records of about 4.2 million current and former government employees，an attack attributed to China.
The new strategy comes less than two months before the U.S. midterm elections on November 6, and as key security and intelligence officials have amplified their warnings that Russia and other adversaries, like China, Iran and North Korea, may seek to use cyber means to interfere.
The new U.S. cyber strategy seeks to allay some of those concerns by promoting responsible behavior in cyberspace, urging nations to adhere to a set of norms, both though international law and voluntary standards.
As for what offensive cyber measures might look like, Bolton would not say. But White House officials contend they have already made it easier for the military to hack back by reversing a directive from the Obama administration known as PPD-20, which created what they describe as a lengthy approval process for any offensive operation.
美国准备在网络空间采取攻势，确保对手明确知道，要为黑客攻击、网络入侵和任何其它形式的攻击付出代价。
美国总统特朗普星期四签署了一项新的国家网络战略，要以更积极的行动应对来自其它国家、恐怖组织和犯罪组织不断增加的网络威胁。
特朗普总统在一份声明中说：“行政当局将采取一切可行手段保护美国不受网络威胁。”他还表示，新战略是“重要一步”。
美国政府其他高级官员说，新战略是一项重要而急需的改革。
美国国家安全顾问博尔顿对记者说：“我们不能只是防御。我们要采取很多主动行动。我认为我们的对手需要知道这一点。”
他补充说，“我们不再像奥巴马时期那样被捆住手脚。”
特朗普行政当局称这项立即生效的战略是15年来美国首次对网络战略的“全面阐述”，为美国政府各部门和机构提供指导，如何对它们的数据以及数百万美国民众的个人信息提供最佳保护。
新战略还要求采取具体措施，加强美国政府网络不受攻击，例如2017年6月针对美国人事管理办公室（OPM）网络的入侵，导致约420万名现任和前任政府雇员的记录被盗。这次攻击被认为是中国所为。
这一新战略在11月6日的美国中期选举前不到两个月推出，一些重要的安全和情报官员已经加强警告，俄罗斯和美国的其他对手，例如中国、伊朗和朝鲜，可能会设法利用网络干涉选举。
至于转守为攻的网络措施可能有哪些，博尔顿不愿说明。但白宫官员表示，这些措施已经推翻了前奥巴马政府的一项指令，带给军方更大便利发动黑客反击行动，而之前的指令使得任何网络进攻行动都要经过漫长审批程序。