Newt Gingrich: cyber attacks from foreign nations are ‘the equivalent of acts of war’

Newt Gingrich, the current leader in the race for the Republican Party’s nomination for US presidential candidate, has shared his thoughts on the matter of international cyber-espionage. In a December 9th interview with Coffee and Markets, Gingrich expressed his concern about hacking attacks, suggesting that “state-based covert activities” be treated with the same level of severity as acts of war and, further, that “we have to respond to that and create a level of pain which teaches people not to do it.”

There’s been plenty of activity on that front in recent times, with Chinese and Russian groups accused of trying to infiltrate US systems and gain access to privileged information. By the menacing sound of Gingrich’s words, if he becomes president his stance on the matter would be decisive. He would seek to engage China and Russia in a high-level conversation presenting them with an ultimatum, stating that “there are games we’re not going to tolerate being played; we either need an armed truce or we’re going to engage as aggressively as you are.”