‘OFFENSIVE STEP FORWARD’

Trump Reverses Obama-Era Directive on Deploying Cyberattacks

The memorandum required obtaining approval from government agencies before launching cyberattacks.

President Trump reversed an Obama-era memorandum Wednesday setting out guidelines on how and when the U.S. can deploy cyberattacks “in an effort to loosen restrictions on such operations,” The Wall Street Journal reports. Presidential Policy Directive 20 was signed by President Obama in 2012 and originally outlined the “interagency process” that needed to be followed in order to use cyberattacks against others—particularly foreign adversaries. The directive mandated obtaining approval from government agencies before any action was deployed. Trump’s move, reportedly spearheaded by National Security Adviser John Bolton earlier this year, was an “offensive step forward” in his administration’s pursuit of military operations support, intellectual property protection, and defending the election infrastructure. According to the newspaper, it is unclear what process the president will use to replace the 2012 memorandum.