The U.S. Department of Defense is said to have prepared a cyber counterattack to be launched against Russia if that nation meddles in next Tuesday’s election.
The report comes from the Center for Public Integrity and The Daily Beast and which cited unnamed sources who said the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies have been given the go-ahead to ready the attack, to include prepping the cyber battlefield by pre-emptively gaining access to some Russian systems.
The plan is the logical extension of an executive order signed by President Trump in August that reduces the time needed to give the approval for any cyber action against an enemy state, the report said.
Any such attack would require more than a minimal amount of provocation, such as attempting to sway voters using fake news reports, but would only be launched if the Russians attempted or were able to tamper with voting registration and recording votes, the Center for Public Integrity reported.
