US President Donald Trump has signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum authorising vetted private American companies to conduct cyber operations against foreign criminal organisations involved in cyber-enabled crime, marking a shift towards more offensive tactics against hackers. The federal government would direct and oversee these operations, extending the fight against cybercrime beyond traditional defensive measures aimed at protecting individuals' accounts and finances.

The memorandum, signed earlier this month, permits two broad categories of activity: companies could covertly gather intelligence from targeted computer systems, or, with federal approval, actively disrupt, degrade, deny access to or destroy digital infrastructure controlled by targeted criminal groups. The move represents a notable departure from purely protective cybersecurity approaches, effectively enlisting private-sector expertise under government supervision to strike at cybercriminal networks operating abroad.