Assume that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) receives actionable intelligence that a major cyber attack is planned on U.S. networks within the next hour. The NSA Director advocates to President Biden that CYBERCOM should launch a preemptive strike. Under the Caroline criteria, such a strike must meet all the following characteristics, except:

1) The attack must be weighed such that it is proportional collateral damage is minimized.

2) The threat must be imminent.

3) It must strike a necessary target that makes a direct contribution to the enemy's war effort.

4) The defensive act must use the same means as the planned offensive strike, i.e., a cyber attack must be used in this case and not a kinetic attack such as a missile strike.