President-elect Biden's team is studying several options to punish Russia for its alleged role in the unprecedented pirate attacks on US government agencies after he takes office.
The alternatives presented by the Biden team include new financial sanctions, cyberattacks on Russian infrastructure, and an escalation of cyber espionage.
The response must be strong enough to cause an economic or technological shock to the authors while avoiding an escalation of the conflict between two nuclear-armed foes.
The overall goal of any measure appears to be to create an effective deterrent in the future and reduce the effectiveness of Russian cyber espionage.
When Biden took office on January 20, Biden's main agenda was the mounting crisis and the lack of understanding of the level of computer network penetration by federal agencies.
Donald Trump admitted the breach nearly a week after its appearance, played down the significance of the breach and questioned Russian officials, and Secretary of State (Mike Pompeo) publicly condemned Russia.
Biden advisers need to fully understand US capabilities and better understand cyber vulnerability information before decisions are made.
"You will be held accountable and pledged to the financial consequences for individuals and companies," Biden told CBS. The answer could be an early test of the president-elect's promise to work more effectively with his allies.
A large-scale data breach has enabled so-called Russian SVR hackers to explore networks of government agencies, private companies, and think tanks.
Moscow has denied any involvement. The media indicated that a Russian intelligence piracy organization, Cozy Bear, was responsible for the attack.
In July, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada accused the Comfort Bear company of trying to steal vaccines and curative research against the Coronavirus.
Analysts said the Biden-led US government should at least consider sanctions against SVR, although the move is largely symbolic.
The US Treasury has imposed financial sanctions on other Russian security agencies such as the FSB and the GRU.
Financial sanctions against economic empires of those associated with President (Vladimir Putin) could be more effective because they prevent dollar transactions from taking place.
The leader of the US Pentagon network could disable the telephone network or deny internet measures, crippling Russia's technological infrastructure, but it could also harm European allies.
Russia may also be banned from using the Swift system for international bank transfers and financial communications, which would prevent Russian companies from processing payments from customers abroad.
Russia was considering moving when it annexed the Ukrainian peninsula from the Crimea in 2014. However, the move affected the Russian energy sector, making gas sales to Europe and European companies operating in Russia difficult.
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| Biden is considering punishing Russia for the US breakthrough |