Under Trump, U.S. military ramps up cyber offensive against other countries

[Jedi Guy]

5. None of what you said really answered the question that was asked, though.

If we know that a hostile nation has hacked or attempted to hack their way into our systems, we'd be pretty foolish not to return the favor. If they can turn out the lights, they're less likely to do so if they know that we can do the exact same thing to them. China in particular isn't likely to do anything to seriously damage our economy, since ours and theirs are so closely intertwined that what affects the one must necessarily affect the other. If they crash our economy to the point that we can't buy their stuff, they're essentially shooting themselves in the foot.

It's basically a digital version of the nuclear doctrine of mutually assured destruction from the Cold War. It's far from ideal, but if you sit there and refuse to use a weapon that your enemies (actual or potential) are using, you put yourself at a tremendous disadvantage.