Brandishing Cyberattack Capabilities - M. C. Libicki. RAND Corporation. May 2013. 32 pages.
"Brandishing a cyber capability would do three things: declare a capability, suggest the possibility of its use in a particular circumstance, and indicate that such use would really hurt [...] Advertising cyberwar capabilities may be helpful. It may back up a deterrence strategy. It might dissuade other states from conventional mischief or even from investing in mischiefmaking capabilities. [...] Yet proving such capability is not easy, even if it exists" (p.29)