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President Donald Trump signed an executive order which empowers federal law enforcement to use cyber tools to disrupt transnational criminal organizations that operate in foreign jurisdictions to attack Americans.

According to the White House, the National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) directs his administration to leverage the capability and innovation of the private sector to help conduct cyber operations under the direction, control and authority of the U.S. government.

The NSPM is designed to counter cyber-enabled crimes including ransomware attacks, phishing campaigns, financial frauds, sextortion schemes and impersonation scams.

The crimes are often coordinated by sophisticated TCOs based outside the U.S., disproportionately affecting seniors, children, and low-income families. In 2025, Americans lost over $20.8 billion to cyber-enabled crime.

The White House frames the move as leveraging the innovation and technological capacity of the U.S. private sector to gain an offensive cyber advantage against foreign-based criminal networks.

The approach seeks to close coordination gaps and apply targeted cyber capabilities where traditional law enforcement may be limited.

Homeland Security Task Force’s National Coordination Center (NCC) will lead a program to conduct specific cyber operations against foreign TCOs, overseen by the Department of Justice and DHS.

Vested U.S. companies can enter agreements with other private entities and federal/state/local/tribal/territorial agencies to:

* Gather threat intelligence on TCOs

* Propose and execute cyber operations

* Conduct cyber surveillance and cyber effects (e.g., disruption, denial, degradation, or destruction of targeted systems) Yahoo+1.

All operations must comply with U.S. law, the Constitution, and applicable international agreements.

Participating firms must maintain a $1 million bond or escrow.