This is a summary of a news: Explainer-U.S. government hack: espionage or act of war? from Reuters.com, published on December 19, 2020.

Here we go.

The suspected Russian’s cyber intrusion of US government agencies has made lawmakers coming with statements like U.S. Senator Dick Durbin calling it “virtually a declaration of war” and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio saying that “America must retaliate, and not just with sanctions.”

However, according to cybersecurity and legal experts, under the international law, it would not be considered as an act of law but more of an act of espionage.

What do we know about the hack?

Malicious code was inserted into updates that are provided for SolarWinds customers. As reported by Reuters, the hackers were able to explore the computer networks of private companies, think tanks, and government agencies.

It seemed that hack was done by Russia’s foreign intelligence service though Moscow has denied any possible involvement.

The hackers are known to have gained access to email or other data within several U.S. government agencies including Commerce Department, Treasury Department, and Department of Energy.

A spokeswoman from Energy Department said malware had been “isolated to business networks only” and had not impacted U.S. national security.

was the hack an ‘act of war?

United Nations resolutions and other sources of international law require a certain level of force or destruction.

According to Duncan Hollis, a professor of law at Temple University “Warfare implies violence, death and destruction,”

Hollis and other experts said the attack’s modus operandi to steal sensitive U.S. information and it should be viewed as espionage.

If any cyber-attack that has a nature of cyber-kinetic attack, then it qualifies as an act of war. A cyber-kinetic attack can bring unwanted damages to physical assets and human lives.

As per the news article, a kinetic attack is such that could “trigger a nuclear plant meltdown; open a dam above a populated area, causing destruction; or disable air traffic control services, resulting in airplane crashes.”

Is there any precedent for the hack?

2014 – A hack that targeted the U.S. government’s personnel agency, the Office of Personnel Management, exposed sensitive personal information of millions of current and former federal employees and contractors. 

2017 – A hack known as “NotPetya,” have crippled ports by paralyzing the shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk and other global corporations.

How might the united states respond?

A manual from the Defense Department says if it is not an act of force, then United cannot use force to respond to a cyber operation.

The same manual also mentions that United States could use “a diplomatic protest, an economic embargo, or other acts of retorsion”

Reporting by Jan Wolfe, Brendan Pierson, Raphael Satter and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Daniel Wallis.