White House announces expansion to combat cybercrime

President Donald Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) empowering U.S. Federal law enforcement to use cyber tools to disrupt transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) operating in foreign jurisdictions that attack Americans.

The fact sheet reads:

• The NSPM directs the Homeland Security Task Force’s National Coordination Center (NCC) to create a program to conduct specific cyber operations that disrupt foreign TCOs, with two Executive Directors from the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.   
• The NSPM directs the NCC to leverage the capability and innovation of the private sector to help conduct these cyber operations under the direction, control, and authority of the U.S. Government.
• The NSPM establishes a framework where private sector companies that willingly participate in the program are encouraged to enter into agreements with other private entities as well Federal, State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial agencies to gather TCO threat information and propose cyber operations that address those threats.
• The NSPM directs the Program’s Executive Directors and the Homeland Security Council to create rigorous procedures for the review and conduct of these limited cyber operations at the direction of the U.S. Government, ensuring strict compliance with the U.S. Constitution and laws, as well as applicable international agreements.  

Learn more about the NSPM here.