The US government just handed corporate America a new job title: cyber soldier. President Donald Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum on August 12, 2026, creating a formal program that lets vetted private-sector companies conduct cyber surveillance and offensive operations against foreign criminal organizations.
What the memorandum actually does
The NSPM targets what the government calls cyber-enabled transnational criminal organizations, or CE-TCOs. These are the groups behind ransomware attacks, large-scale phishing campaigns, and digital fraud operations.
Under the new framework, qualifying companies can engage in “cyber surveillance operations” and “effects operations” against these foreign adversaries.
The entire program runs through the National Coordination Center, a government body tasked with vetting companies, regulating how threat information gets shared, and approving proposed operational agreements. Companies that want in must pass a thorough screening process and operate under contracts with federal agencies.
