In May of 2011, Barack Obama signed this Cyberspace policy. Will we follow this policy going forward, post Obama? Or will we shoot from the hip?
When warranted, the United States will respond to hostile acts in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country. All states possess an inherent right to self-defense, and we recognize that certain hostile acts conducted through cyberspace could compel actions under the commitments we have with our military treaty partners.We reserve the right to use all necessary means—diplomatic, informational, military, and economic—as appropriate and consistent with applicable international law, in order to defend our Nation, our allies, our partners, and our interests. In so doing, we will exhaust all options before military force whenever we can; will carefully weigh the costs and risks of action against the costs of inaction; and will act in a way that reflects our values and strengthens our legitimacy, seeking broad international support whenever possible.
Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/international_strategy_for_cyberspace.pdf
Back up source: international strategy for cyberspace
I fear for a time when a physical attack is the answer to a cyber attack, as knowing the true source of the attack can be tricky in any circumstance. May I never need to reference this post in the future.