White House pours cold water on cyber ‘letters of marque’ speculation

The White House says it will not authorize “letters of marque” or allow private companies to carry out offensive cyberattacks, even as the administration pursues a more routine use of government offensive cyber capabilities. Officials seek closer technical cooperation with industry to identify and scale responses to threats, but stress that private firms will not conduct offensive campaigns. #LummaInfostealer #Microsoft

Keypoints

White House officials reject plans to let private companies carry out offensive cyber operations or “hack back.”
The administration’s national cyber strategy calls for more routine and coordinated use of offensive cyber capabilities by the government.
Officials want the private sector to “illuminate the battlefield” by sharing technical visibility, not to execute offensive campaigns.
Governments and companies already collaborate on disruptions, exemplified by Microsoft and the Department of Justice tackling the Lumma infostealer.
Specifics of how government-led actions will leverage industry capabilities remain unclear, though officials emphasize coordination at scale.