White House: Obama adjusting cyber offense stance

WASHINGTON – The White House says the administration is refining its use of offensive cyber operations to counter evolving threats of electronic assaults against the United States.

Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, says a directive signed by President Barack Obama last year calls for government cyber tools to be "integrated with the full array of national security tools we have at our disposal."

Hayden was responding a report in Britain's Guardian newspaper that Obama has ordered national security and intelligence officials to draw up a list of potential cyber targets overseas.

The Guardian report comes as Obama was about to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. One of the main topics was to be alleged Chinese hacking against the U.S.