Attributing an attack to a government has a diplomatic point to make or political pressure it wants to bring to bear. For the Justice Department, leveling criminal charges against a foreign nation’s hackers appears to be a diplomatic way of saying: “We see what you’re doing, now knock it off” The Politics of attribution can be used to attempt to get other nations to play by U.S. rules, says expert on Soviet and Russian “active measures” Thomas Rid, a professor of security studies at Johns Hopkins University, says prosecutors pulled out all the stops.”]
Source: https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/blogs/political-play-indicting-foreign-nations-hackers-p-2647