US to let firms hack foreign cybercrime groups

President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum directing the Justice and Homeland Security departments to allow certain US companies to hack foreign cybercriminal groups under government approval.

The White House said the measure is aimed at ransomware, sextortion and online fraud, which it said cost Americans more than $20 billion in 2025.

The memorandum calls for private partners to be authorised to take down hackers' servers or infiltrate their machines with spyware. Each operation would need prior government approval, and participating companies would have to post a bond of at least $1 million.

The program excludes actions that could cause death or injury, as well as anything that would meet the threshold of “use of force” under international law.

Experts interviewed by AFP were divided. Ari Redbord, a former federal prosecutor now at TRM Labs, said the plan brings together private-sector data and public-sector authority, and argued oversight can run alongside operations.

Alan Woodward, a University of Surrey cybersecurity professor, warned that government authorisation does not guarantee obedience and said participating companies could become targets themselves.

Jason Healey, a Columbia University researcher and former cybersecurity official under President George W. Bush, said the plan appeared to have legal guardrails, but raised concern that oversight bodies had been weakened.

The administration has 60 days to finalise the program’s details. Some elements will remain classified.