US reacting at analog pace to a rising digital risk: Hacking report

Of the many questions left unanswered by the American intelligence agencies’ accusation that Russia’s president, Vladimir V Putin, led a multilayered campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election, one stands out: Why did it take the Obama administration more than 16 months to develop a response?

The short answer, suggested by the report the agencies released on Friday, is that the United States government is still responding at an analog pace to a low-grade, though escalating, digital conflict.

The report was compiled by the FBI, the CIA and the National Security Agency, makes no judgments about the decisions that the agencies or