US goes tough with overseas cyber attackers

President Barack Obama launched a new sanctions program to target individuals and groups outside the United States that use “malicious” cyber attacks to threaten U.S. foreign policy, national security or economic stability.
In an executive order, Obama declared such activities a “national emergency” and allowed the U.S. Treasury Department to freeze assets and bar other financial transactions of entities engaged in destructive cyber attacks.
The executive order gave the administration the same sanctions tools it deploys to address other threats, including crises in the Middle East and Russia`s aggression in Ukraine. Those tools are now available for an escalating epidemic of cyber threats aimed at U.S. computer networks.
It was the Obama administration’s latest effort to get tough with hackers, following indictments of five Chinese military officers and the decision to “name and shame” North Korea for a high-profile attack on Sony