Fran Howarth:

According to officials, the U.S. State Department hack is the worst that has ever been seen against a federal agency. All organizations -- not just governments -- need to beef up their ability to detect and respond to sophisticated attacks.

Lisa Monaco:

Cyber threats are at the top of the President's list of security concerns. We are at a transformational moment in how we approach cybersecurity.

Joel Brenner:

The Obama administration is really getting serious now.

James Lewis:

This sends a signal that the days of free-range hacking are over.

Michael Daniel:

The targets of these sanctions are malicious actors whose actions undermine our national security.

Kim Zetter:

Michael Daniel and John Smith were hard-pressed ... to identify specific examples of attacks that would qualify for these sanctions or explain the criteria for determining when an attack meets the threshold.

Jason Healey:

The government can use sanctions against cyber actors who target US foreign policy -- an interesting category and choice of words. This probably wasn't meant to include WikiLeaks-style "malicious cyber actors" but future administrations might interpret this more broadly.

Marcy Wheeler:

Does that include encryption providers?

Adam Segal:

Where does the tit-for-tat end?