Trump Memo Paves Way for U.S. Firms to Hack and Disrupt Foreign Crime Groups

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

Report facts: The article describes a White House memo directing the National Coordination Center to create a program that lets vetted U.S. private companies use their capabilities to break into and disrupt foreign transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). It frames this as government-enabled offensive operations by the private sector against foreign crime groups. RealGround analysis: As offensive cyber operations expand to private actors, there is a heightened risk that similar capabilities and tooling—potentially including AI-driven intrusion, targeting, and automation—could be repurposed or abused for malicious AI use or spill over into broader ecosystems. Organizations should assess how any participation in such programs, or exposure to their tooling, affects their AI threat models, governance controls, and obligations around responsible AI use and cross-border operations.