The White House says the world is facing a "revolution" of the cyber threat and is issuing a response plan for the federal government to use after major cyberattacks.
White House homeland security and counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco says Russia and China are developing more assertive and sophisticated cyber capabilities. She says Iran has attacked U.S. banks and North Korea has shown it will attack both nations and companies.
Monaco also warns about non-state actors like the Islamic State group and "hacktivists."
President Barack Obama is releasing a presidential policy directive that lays out six levels of severity for attacks. A three or above triggers a high-level federal response.
The directive comes amid increased concern about cybersecurity following the hack of Democratic National Committee emails.