Trump administration isn’t pushing companies to conduct cyber offense, national cyber director says
Trump administration isn’t pushing companies to conduct cyber offense, national cyber director says
https://cyberscoop.com/national-cyber-strategy-private-sector-offensive-operations-sean-cairncross/
Publish Date: 2026-03-17 16:18:00
Source Domain: cyberscoop.com
National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross said Tuesday that the Trump administration isn’t aspiring to enlist the private sector to conduct offensive cyber operations, but instead to help the government by keeping them abreast of the threats they’re facing.
The recently-released national cyber strategy talks about incentivizing companies to disrupt the networks of adversaries.
“I’m not talking about the private sector, industry or companies engaging in a cyber offensive campaign,” Cairncross said at an event hosted by Auburn University’s McCrary Institute. “What I’m talking about are the technical capabilities, the ability of our private sector to illuminate the battlefield from what they’re seeing, to inform and share information so that the USG [U.S. government] can respond to get ahead of things.”
The idea of enabling U.S. companies to undertake disruptive or offensive campaigns against malicious hackers, or to at least aid in U.S. government offensive operations, has regained currency in some GOP circles in recent years. Some companies have shown an interest in doing so, especially if laws are changed to make it more viable.
That trend coincides with growing calls from Trump administration officials — and now the release of the cybersecurity strategy — to go on the offense against hackers, although Cairncross emphasized again that the strategy pillar to “shape adversary behavior” isn’t just about conducting cyber offensive campaigns, but to use other government mechanisms to put pressure on hackers, be they legal or diplomatic.
The government can go about shaping the “risk calculus” “in a more agile fashion” with private sector help, he said.
There’s an enormous amount of capability on the private sector side, and now we have a spear from the United States government… we are looking for real partnership,” Cairncross said.
One way the U.S. government has sought to bring the fight to…
