"[The bill] requires the administration to impose sanctions against all entities and persons responsible or complicit in malicious cyber activities aimed against the United States," the release said.
The legislation also establishes a framework to deter and respond to state-sponsored malicious cyber activity against the United States, the publication added.
The senator pointed that the bill "will expose and impose costs on states that try to use cyberattacks to undermine American security and prosperity."
One more US Senator, Gardner, noted that new legislation will help US government to impose sanctions against malicious cyber actors around the world.
"This… is another step that Congress and the administration can take to deter foreign actors from carrying out cyberattacks against the United States," the official said.
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The legislation mandates different sanctions against any "critical cyber threat actor," but allows the US president to waive sanctions on a case-by-case basis, the release said.
On June 18, the Pentagon authorized the US Cyber Command to raid foreign networks almost on a daily basis hoping that such pre-emptive measures would help disable cyberweapons before they could be used.
Created in 2009, the US Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) unifies the direction of cyberspace operations, strengthens the Pentagon’s cyberspace capabilities, and integrates and bolsters its cyber expertise. While originally created with a defensive mission in mind, it has increasingly been viewed as an offensive force.
