Trump unleashes private firms to hack back against foreign cybercriminals
The US expects companies to help counter cybercrime, fraud, and other predatory schemes.
Image by Bloomberg via Gettyimages.
- Trump signed a memo on August 12 letting vetted private cybersecurity companies run offensive operations against foreign cybercrime networks.
- Firms must be vetted, sign contracts, and post a $1 million deposit; operations must be approved by the DoJ and DHS.
- American consumers lost $20.8 billion to cyber-enabled crime in 2025, underscoring why the government is escalating its response.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
US president Donald Trump signed a memo allowing private cybersecurity companies to go after hacking gangs. Tapping the “underutilized” business capabilities under federal control will help surveil and disrupt foreign scammers, fraudsters, and other cybercrime networks.
The August 12th presidential memorandum expands the US’s capabilities in combating international cybercrime. The memo cites “a growing threat to American citizens, business, and national security” posed by cyber-enabled foreign crime groups.
A new program will authorize participating cybersecurity companies to conduct “Cyber Surveillance Operations and Cyber Effects Operations against foreign Cyber-Enabled Transnational Criminal Organizations.”
The firms won’t act independently – they have to be vetted, sign contracts, and post at least $1 million as a security deposit in case they breach the contract. The minimum standards will include technical proficiency, proven performance of cyber operations, facility security, personnel vetting, competence, and reliability.
The approval chain includes officials at the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The National Coordination Center (NCC) is directed to create the program.
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“The American private sector is the most innovative and technologically advanced in the world, and its scale, speed, and capacity secure a critical offensive cyber advantage for the United States. Yet, American businesses’ innovative capabilities have historically been underutilized in efforts to identify and disrupt criminal networks operating in cyberspace,” the memo reads.
The program can authorize private companies to manipulate, disrupt, deny, degrade, or destroy information systems, networks, physical or virtual infrastructure, and hosted information. The memo focuses on non-state-sponsored or controlled hacking groups.
Operations that could result in critical outcomes, such as loss of life or acts of war, cannot be approved by the program’s directors.
“Ransomware attacks, phishing campaigns, financial frauds, sextortion schemes, and impersonation scams are often coordinated campaigns run by sophisticated transnational criminal organizations based outside of the US,” a fact sheet details.
The new program, according to Ars Technica, is the first time the federal government will authorize private firms to conduct offensive cyber operations.
American consumers reported losing $20.8 billion to cyber-enabled crime in 2025.