Ravie LakshmananAug 14, 2026Cybercrime / Offensive Operation
A new White House memo signed by U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed the National Coordination Center (NCC) to establish a program that would allow private sector companies to take advantage of their "innovative capabilities" to break into foreign Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and disrupt them.
"By partnering with vetted United States companies subject to the direction and oversight of the Federal Government, we will enhance our ability to counter TCO threats and combat transnational cybercrime, fraud, and other predatory schemes against American citizens," the memo reads.
To that end, the NCC has been tasked with setting up a program that allows authorized companies to conduct two types of operations against TCOs upon obtaining approval: cyber surveillance operations, which can access sensitive data without authorization from the owner or operator, and cyber effects operations, which can result in disruption, denial, degradation, or destruction of information systems, networks, or infrastructure.
The memorandum defines participating countries as private U.S. firms that have been accepted into the initiative and given the green signal to conduct cyber operations under the direction of the United States Government.
