According to Fierce Government IT, Painter told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Thursday he believes the State Department has a key role in setting out norms of acceptable conduct.
A number of nations have already started to draft cyberspace strategies, he said, according to Molly Bernhart Walker’s story.
“In the international strategy we have a deterrence policy there,” Painter said, adding diplomacy is one of several tools the department will use.
According to Fierce, Painter also said many cyber threats come in the form of intellectual property theft and the department is speaking with both suspect countries and allies.
âI think it’s not that it’s cyber warfare but that is something that I think is clearly damaging the American economy,â Painter said, according to the report.