President Donald Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum earlier this month that creates a framework allowing vetted private U.S. companies to conduct cyber operations against certain foreign criminal organizations, according to a report by Fox News.
The federal government would direct and oversee those operations. The memorandum allows two broad types of activity. Companies could secretly collect intelligence from targeted computer systems. With federal approval, they could also manipulate, disrupt, deny access to, degrade, or destroy systems and digital infrastructure that targeted criminal organizations control.
The move comes as cybercrime losses in the United States continue to grow. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received 1,008,597 complaints in 2025, with reported losses reaching $20.877 billion. Those losses were up 26% from 2024.
The White House says foreign-based criminal organizations are responsible for sophisticated campaigns involving ransomware, phishing, financial fraud, and impersonation scams targeting Americans and U.S. interests. Artificial intelligence is making some of those attacks increasingly difficult to recognize, as it allows criminals to create more convincing impersonation scams and other cyberattacks. Stolen personal information can also keep circulating after the original crime, which is one reason identity theft victims may find themselves targeted again.
The new program is designed to give the federal government another tool to pursue certain foreign criminal organizations involved in cyber-enabled crime, with private companies operating under federal direction and oversight.
