According to the report, Obama had approved a measure that authorized planting cyber bombs in Russia's infrastructure which could be detonated if the United States found itself in an escalating exchange with Moscow.
The measure was still in the planning stages when Obama left office and it would be up to President Trump to decide whether to use the capability.
Political scientist Andrei Manoylo told Radio Sputnik that the revelation represents a "non-veiled threat from the US" to attack Russia with cyber weapons.
"The Washington Post was quite vague in its description but we can guess that if there really is something, these are some kind of information 'implants' that were placed at some time in Russian communication and possibly even management systems. Perhaps it's some kind of means of cyber-attack such as hacking secure information networks, hardware programs or new viruses."
"No head of the security services or even the US Department of Defense would ever take that responsibility on themselves, only with the approval of the President because he is the commander-in-chief. In this sense, those who prepared the cyberattacks against Russia can't do anything without Trump and his permission. They are required to get it," Manoylo said.
"On the other hand, it's completely possible that they are preparing another cunning trap for Trump here, in the hope that the power games and intrigues that are currently going on around him will force him to give that kind of permission. In that case, he will ruin relations with Moscow irrevocably."
