WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has vowed that the U.S. will respond to Russian hacking undertaken during the U.S. presidential campaign. Yet the public may never hear about it.

During his presidency, Mr. Obama favored a policy of deterrence when it came to responding to cyber attacks, in what U.S. officials call “naming and shaming.” He has indicted Iranian and Chinese hackers and signed an executive order allowing the Treasury Department to impose financial sanctions on hackers. He could take similar steps against Russia, which has repeatedly denied accusations of hacking.

Another possible route is an offensive cyber operation. Mr. Obama said Dec. 16 that he would respond in a “thoughtful, methodical way,” and some of it “we do publicly. Some of it, we will do in a way that they know but not everybody will.” Several former military and intelligence officials explained how an offensive response might play out.

One key step would be deciding which part of the U.S. national security apparatus the administration taps for the job. The administration could turn to the Pentagon or the intelligence community to draft “proportional” responses to a breach, said Ted Johnson, a retired U.S. Navy commander and cyber fellow at the New America Foundation. That would ensure the U.S. plays by the norms of international conflict and reduces the risk of escalation.

If a covert action by the Central Intelligence Agency or National Security Agency is sought, it would come after gathering as much data as possible on the specific “entities and individuals” involved in the U.S. attack, according to Terry Roberts, founder and president of cybersecurity firm WhiteHawk Inc. and former deputy director of U.S. Naval Intelligence.

That could involve wiping out hard drives connected to Russia’s intelligence community, exposing Russian hacking tools on the web or revealing where the hackers operate in the so-called dark web. Or if the specific hackers involved use bitcoin currency, the U.S. could delete their online financial cache, Ms. Roberts said.

If the president chooses a military option, that would fall to U.S. Cyber Command, an agency headed by Adm. Michael Rogers, who also leads the NSA. This path requires the object of the action be a military target. Possible options here could include a cyber-strike against the systems of the FSB or GRU, Russian intelligence agencies, or launching a ransomware attack against them or manipulating their data.

Using the military could send a strong message and eventually the operation could be made public. Mr. Rogers has said he expects to declassify some of the tactics being used against Islamic State.

First Published: December 29, 2016, 5:00 a.m.