President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum of understanding authorizing the government to hire private companies to combat cybercrime. This will allow private companies to carry out government-sanctioned operations, including cyberattacks.
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The memorandum signed by President Trump allows the government to outsource cyberattack operations to private companies, and it details aspects such as supervisors, scope of operations, and criteria for companies that can participate in the operations.
Private companies are targeted for ransomware, sextortion, phishing scams, financial fraud, and identity theft. According to the memorandum, companies can monitor and attack organizations that carry out cyberattacks.
This memorandum of understanding appears to permit companies participating in the program to use spyware or launch attacks aimed at destroying the data and systems of others. The memorandum does not exclude specific types of attacks, such as attacks that use encryption to shut out targets from networks or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Previously, the government prohibited private companies from taking such actions without court authorization.
Furthermore, participating companies must deposit a security deposit of $1 million (approximately 160 million yen). This deposit will be forfeited if the company fails to comply with the contractual agreement.
President Trump stated, ‘We will expand our fight against cybercrime by incorporating the ingenuity of the private sector.’
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