In un contesto in cui gli accordi internazionali vietano attacchi diretti alle infrastrutture critiche, si parla di "deterrence by leak" <http://blogs.cfr.org/cyber/2016/11/07/do-u-s-efforts-to-deter-russian-cyber-...> According to a NBC News report, the United States has penetrated Russia’s electric grid, telecommunications networks, and command and control systems in order to be able to launch retaliatory cyberattacks if the Kremlin attacks critical infrastructure during the election. An unidentified senior official reportedly said that if Russia attacked critical infrastructure then Washington could shut down some Russian systems. Washington has called out China and Russia for “preparing the battlefield” by penetrating and surveilling networks in the past. Admiral Michael Rogers, head of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2015, “We believe potential adversaries might be leaving cyber fingerprints on our critical infrastructure partly to convey a message that our homeland is at risk if tensions ever escalate toward military conflict.” The NBC report is confirmation (by leak) that the United States is, not surprisingly, doing the same. This is clearly an effort to create a deterrent. President Obama also reportedly warned President Putin about interference in the election at their last meeting two months ago. Like Lawfare‘s Jack Goldsmith, I am skeptical that deterrence by leak is an effective method. In previous leaks claiming the United States would respond with cyberattacks, there has been no visible follow through. While there may have been covert disruptions, there is little reason to think Moscow would take these new reports more seriously. Moreover, the Russians can easily remain below the threshold of an attack on critical infrastructure. The theft and public disclosure of the emails of the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign manager John Podesta have been more than effective in stirring up questions about the integrity and legitimacy of the electoral process. Russian hackers do not need to take down the power grid; brief distributed denial of service attacks on social media platforms on election day could do the trick. [] Alberto