Clinton said the US should ‘lead the world in setting the rules in cyberspace’.

The candidate, who has been investigated by the FBI over use of a private email server to store classified material, was speaking on the campaign trial at the American Legion National Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio on 31 August.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party presidential nominee and former US secretary of state, has said that if she becomes president cyberattacks against US interests will be treated “like any other attack” – and that includes military action.

“As President, I will make it clear that the United States will treat cyberattacks just like any other attack. We will be ready with serious political, economic, and military responses,” she told the attendees, largely made up of veterans and their supporters.

“We are going to invest in protecting our governmental networks and our national infrastructure,” she continued. “I want us to lead the world in setting the rules in cyberspace. If America doesn’t, others will.”

The speech made a number of references to the rise in cybercrime – and the various rival nation states that Clinton asserted are currently attacking the US. Most recently, Kremlin-linked hackers were suspected of hacking into the computer networks of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

“We need to respond to evolving threats from states like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea,” Clinton said in the speech. “We need a military that is ready and agile so it can meet the full range of threats and operate on short notice across every domain – not just land, sea, air and space but also cyberspace.