Trump signed memo to allow use of cyber tools to target transnational criminal orgs, White House says

On August 12, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a memo that the White House claims will enable federal law enforcement to employ cyber tools against transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) operating across foreign borders to target Americans. The White House explained that the national security presidential memorandum empowers the administration to harness the private sector's technological prowess to execute these cyber operations, under the guidance, oversight, and jurisdiction of the U.S. government.

The White House highlighted ransomware attacks, financial frauds, and other crimes orchestrated by foreign-based organized criminal entities in a fact sheet accompanying the memo. The memorandum establishes a framework to facilitate collaboration between private sector companies and various government agencies, both at the federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels, in sharing threat intelligence related to TCOs and proposing cyber operations to counter their threats.