US reacting at analog pace to rising digital risk

Washington

OF the many questions left unanswered by the US intelligence agencies' accusation that Russia's president, Vladimir 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 US government is still responding at an analog pace to a low-grade, though escalating, digital conflict.