With the issuance of the National Security Presidential Memorandum for Expanding Capabilities To Combat Transnational Cyber-Enabled Crime, dated 12 August, cyber privateering seems to be on the table.
This new action expands on Executive Order 14390 of March 6, 2026 (Combating Cybercrime, Fraud, and Predatory Schemes Against American Citizens), from the Federal Government taking no various actions to combat cyber-enabled crime harming American citizens to incorporating the ingenuity of the private sector.
The American private sector is the most innovative and technologically advanced in the world, and its scale, speed, and capacity secure a critical offensive cyber advantage for the United States. Yet, American businesses’ innovative capabilities have historically been underutilized in efforts to identify and disrupt criminal networks operating in cyberspace. Thus, it is the policy of the United States to use all instruments of national power, including the innovative capabilities of the private sector, to combat cybercrime. 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 program will authorize Participating Companies to conduct Cyber Surveillance Operations and Cyber Effects Operations against foreign Cyber-Enabled Transnational Criminal Organizations (CE-TCOs), under the control and oversight of the Federal Government.
The NSPM also establishes a framework where private sector companies that willingly participate in the program are encouraged to enter into agreements with other private entities as well Federal, State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial agencies to gather TCO threat information and propose cyber operations that address those threats.
In a fact sheet issued by the White House several sobering statistics were offered to explain why this course of action is being taken:
- The most vulnerable among us—seniors, children, and low-income families—are disproportionately targeted, with scammers draining life savings, stealing the benefits of years of work, and destroying lives.
- In 2025, American consumers reported losing more than $20.8 billion to cyber-enabled crime.
- 73% of U.S. adults have experienced some kind of online scam or attack and 98% of Americans believe scams pose a threat to individuals in the U.S., with two-thirds saying it is a “major” threat.
- One in seven young people who experienced sextortion as a minor reported harming themselves in response to the abuse. Until now, outdated frameworks, gaps in coordination, and the absence of meaningful consequences have allowed these networks to thrive.
Implementing details to follow as they become available.