A new White House memo signed by US President Donald Trump directs the National Coordination Center (NCC) to establish a program that would allow private security companies to apply for authorization to hack foreign cybercrime organizations.
Signed on WednesdayThe National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) allows the NCC (part of the Homeland Security Task Force) to leverage U.S. private sector capabilities to conduct cyber operations against transnational criminal organizations under the control and authority of the U.S. government.
“The NSPM directs the program’s executive directors and the Homeland Security Council to establish rigorous procedures for reviewing and conducting these limited cyber operations at the direction of the U.S. government, thereby ensuring strict compliance with the U.S. Constitution and laws, as well as applicable international agreements,” a Fact sheet published yesterday.
“The NSPM creates a framework under which private sector companies that willingly participate in the program are encouraged to enter into agreements with other private entities, as well as federal, state, local, tribal and territorial agencies, to collect TCO threat intelligence and propose cyber operations that address those threats.”
The program is overseen by executive directors appointed by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, and security firms participating in the program are vetted before entering into contracts with either department.
Additionally, the memorandum requires procedures to ensure that operations comply with the U.S. Constitution, federal law, and U.S. international obligations, while requiring participating companies to post a bond or escrow of at least $1 million, which will be forfeited if they fail to comply with contractual agreements.
They must also immediately cease operations if they discover activity that exceeds approved limits, including accidental attacks on U.S. citizens or U.S.-based systems, and notify the National Coordination Center.
The White House said the program is designed to dismantle foreign criminal organizations involved in ransomware attacks, phishing campaigns, financial fraud, sextortion schemes and identity theft scams. It added that US consumers reported losing more than $20.8 billion to cybercrime in 2025.
Veracode co-founder Chris Wysopal said the memo is a “pretty big shift in U.S. cyber policy” and “a significant expansion of the private sector’s role in offensive cyber operations,” said Jason Kikta, former head of the Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF) and CTO of Automox I described it as a “perpetuum mobile for billable threats”.
Overall prevention scores can hide what happens after the first access. Once attackers use valid credentials, prevention drops sharply.
The 2026 Blue Report measures defense technology for technology in 338 million simulations conducted in customer production environments.
