While the stated goal of U.S. policy toward North Korea remains complete denuclearization, such absolute objectives have no equivalent in cyberspace. Nobody demands that the DPRK destroys its computers or that China cut the country’s access to the internet, even though there is little doubt that Pyongyang-sponsored hackers use that connection to wreak havoc online.

What’s more, the concept of military deterrence — containing enemies by scaring them into inaction — has quickly lost its utility on the web. As digital sabotage, extortion, theft and espionage rage across the internet, there is little precedent suggesting that