Trump authorizes private firms to wage state-backed cyber offensives against criminal networks
TL;DR
President Donald Trump signed an order authorizing select private companies to carry out government-sponsored cyberattacks against foreign criminal hacking groups, a shift from the traditional approach that reserved such actions for U.S. intelligence and defense agencies. The plan includes a DOJ-DHS coordination center to oversee participating firms and aims to disrupt cybercrime, but it raises potential legal and geopolitical risks and explicitly excludes operations against foreign governments.
- Trump signs memo authorizing private sector to launch cyberattacks The Washington Post
- Trump Gives Green Light to U.S. Companies to Aim Hacks at Cybercriminals The New York Times
- ‘Cyber privateers’: Trump issues order allowing US companies to hack overseas groups under certain conditions CNN
- US government will let private companies hack criminal gangs Cybersecurity Dive
- As warfare becomes engineering, the era of the digital mercenary dawns Defense One
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