Trump wants to grant private cyber firms a license to hack back
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Trump wants licensed firms to hack back when foreign crews hit US networks.
Summary
- The Register reports the Trump administration wants to license private cyber firms to hack back.
- The idea is a legal path for companies that now sit still after a ransomware or theft hit.
- Hack-back has been blocked by US computer-crime law even when the attacker is overseas.
- The proposal would put the work under a government license, not a free-for-all.
- China, Russia, and criminal crews already treat US networks as open range.
Commentary
Waiting for a polite FBI memo after a Chinese crew empties a firm is not a strategy. Licensed hack-back is overdue if the license is real and the targets are foreign.
Beijing already uses private cutouts. Pretending only governments may touch a packet is a unilateral disarmament.
Write the license tight: no domestic score-settling, no random scanning, and a kill switch at DOJ. Then let the good firms hunt.
Discussion
Should US firms get a license to hack back?
soc_lead
I am tired of writing after-action reports while the crew cashes out in another time zone.
midwest_vet
Deterrence needs a return address. Defense-only is a welcome mat.
campus_take
This is vigilantism. It will start a cyber war.
rule_first
A license is the opposite of vigilante. It is a commission, with rules and revocation.
tokyo_ally
Japan's firms get hit by the same PRC crews. Allies should coordinate, not lecture.
aid_fan
Norms and UN talks will calm the ransomware market.
docket_rat
Norms did not stop the last hospital shutdown. Attribution plus pain might.
border_dad
Same as the border: if you never push back, they keep coming.
press_clip
The Register can smirk. The statute still leaves victims unarmed.
night_shift
License it, log it, and pull the ticket if a firm goes cowboy.
Inspired by public posts on X — paraphrased, not attributed.
