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Trump administration authorizes vetted private companies to conduct offensive cyber operations against foreign criminal groups
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A presidential memorandum signed August 12 directs the National Coordination Center to establish a program allowing vetted U.S. companies to conduct cyber surveillance and offensive operations against foreign transnational criminal organizations under government review and approval.
This formalizes a framework for private companies to act as proxies in offensive cyber operations, expanding the government's capacity beyond its own agencies. For security engineers, it means some private-sector actors will now operate with government authorization to hack foreign infrastructure, creating new legal and operational dynamics in the cybersecurity landscape.
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A presidential memorandum signed August 12 directs the National Coordination Center to manage the program authorizing vetted companies to hack foreign criminal organizations.
Authorized activities fall into two categories: Cyber Surveillance Operations for intelligence gathering and Cyber Effects Operations for disruption, degradation, or destruction of systems.
Companies cannot act independently; program officials must review and approve every operation, and operations that could cause death or serious injury are classified as Critical Outcomes barred from standard approval.
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