Trump Memo Lets Firms Hack Foreign Crime Groups

President Donald Trump signed a national security presidential memorandum on Wednesday empowering federal law enforcement — and vetted private companies working under government control — to use cyber tools against foreign criminal organizations that target Americans.

The White House says the memo aims at ransomware attacks, phishing, financial fraud, sextortion and impersonation scams run by what the memo calls "transnational criminal organizations" based outside the United States.

The memo directs his administration 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 White House said.

What the memo does

It directs the Department of Homeland Security, through the Homeland Security Task Force's National Coordination Center, to create a program to conduct cyber operations that disrupt foreign criminal groups. Two executive directors — one from the Justice Department, one from DHS — will oversee it.

Once vetted, participating companies will carry out "cyber surveillance operations" and "cyber effects operations" against specified targets. The memo defines cyber effects as the potential "manipulation, disruption, denial, degradation, or destruction of information systems, networks, physical or virtual infrastructure controlled by information systems, or information resident thereon."

The framework also lets companies sign agreements with other private entities and with federal, state, local, tribal and territorial agencies to share threat information and propose operations. Participating companies must maintain a bond or escrow of at least $1 million. No operation may proceed without written approval and direction from the federal government, and the executive directors and the Homeland Security Council must build review procedures to ensure compliance with the Constitution, U.S. law and applicable international agreements.

The numbers

American consumers reported losing more than $20.8 billion to cyber-enabled crime in 2025, according to the White House fact sheet, which says seniors, children and low-income families are disproportionately targeted. It cites figures that 73% of U.S. adults have experienced some form of online scam or attack and 98% see scams as a threat to people in the country.

Authorities estimated Americans lost at least $10 billion in 2024 to scam operations based in Southeast Asia.