US threatens to respond to Russia over hacking attempts
The United States vows to give a “proportional response” to hacking by Russia in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest made the announcement to reporters traveling with President Barack Obama on Air Force One on Tuesday.
"We obviously will ensure that our response is proportional," said the press secretary. "It is unlikely that our response would be announced in advance.”
Russian authorities have time and again denied Moscow has been behind breaches, targeting the November 8 election process.
Earnest further boasted about US capabilities to launch cyber offensives against other countries.
"The president has talked before about the significant capabilities that the US government has to both defend our systems in the United States but also carry out offensive operations in other countries," he said.
Last Friday, the administration of President Barack Obama issued a statement formally accusing Kremlin of attempts to "interfere" with the US vote.
Based on the statement, the country’s spy organizations are “confident that the Russian government directed the recent compromises of emails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations."
US Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton claims she is a victim of such hackings, after some of her emails were leaked by the WikiLeaks.
Such releases are "consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts,” according to the statement.
During a debate with GOP nominee Donald Trump on Sunday, Clinton suggested on several occasions that Russia seeks the presidency of Trump by launching such attacks against her campaign.
In late July, the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks released thousands of hacked DNC emails, which revealed an insider effort in the party to undermine Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ bid for the White House.
Following the leak, mounting pressure on the Democratic National Committee for its unfair treatment of Sanders forced Debbie Wasserman Schultz to step down from her position as the organization’s chair.
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