In cyberspace, there are no rules of engagement, FireEye Chief Executive Officer Kevin Mandia said Thursday on CNBC.
As a result, "everyone is trying to figure out how to act," Mandia told "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer live in San Francisco. This means the U.S., which relies heavily on the internet, has a great potential for attacks from countries such as Russia, Mandia said.
"The reality is if all of Russia's cyber weapons went against us and all of our cyber weapons went against Russia, they would win," Mandia said on "Closing Bell."
On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on a number of Russian individuals and entities for their roles in interfering in the 2016 election, singling out "Russian government cyber actors" for targeting key U.S. infrastructure.
Mandia, who became CEO of the cybersecurity company in mid-2016, pointed out that there are no rules of repercussion to hacking when in countries such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.
The cybersecurity company, which has provided products and services to help investigate high-profile attacks, made headlines earlier in the day when rumors leaked that companies such as Cisco and Symantec were considering buying FireEye.
Mandia did not confirm or deny the rumors but did say FireEye is in the process of a refresh with new products.
