Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, warned Wednesday that the next big attack on the U.S. is likely to be a cyberattack, not a traditional attack.
“My concern is that the next Pearl Harbor could be cyber,” King said on CNN Wednesday morning.
King, a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said there must be consequences for foreign actors who attack American systems like power and gas grids. He said he agreed with Hillary Clinton that the country needs to strike back, calling it “Deterrence 2.0,” and said the U.S. must modify its current approach to ensure other countries know “there are going to be consequences, there are going to be results.”
He pointed to the Sony hack from North Koreans and the alleged attempts by Russians to influence U.S. elections as examples of the threat posed to the U.S., and cautioned that the U.S. must have a measured response.
“It’s got to be calibrated, we can’t start World War III in cyber over some minor intrusion,” said King. “But the idea that you’re going into a fight and all you’re going to do is duck and dodge and never punch back, I think invites aggression of the other side.”
