Category Archives: PPD-20

PPD-20 successor has yielded ‘operational success,’ Federal CISO says

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A revamped policy framework for offensive U.S. cyber operations is much quicker than its predecessor and has yielded “operational success,” a top White House cybersecurity official said Tuesday. Last August, President Donald Trump rescinded the Obama-era policy, known as Presidential Policy Directive 20, which governed U.S. hacking operations, and replaced it with the new framework. Critics said PPD-20’s intricate interagency process unnecessarily delayed offensive operations, while advocates called it an important mechanism for accounting for all of the potential repercussions of a cyberattack. The new structure “gives more authority to the people who need to actually make those decisions” about offensive operations, Grant Schneider, the federal information security officer, said at an event hosted by the nonprofit Intelligence and National Security Alliance. U.S. officials are focused on ensuring that the Pentagon “has the tools available to leverage offensive cyber capabilities,” he added. The remarks from Schneider, the National Security Council’s top defensive-focused […]

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Ex-NSA chief welcomes more U.S. offensive operations in cyberspace

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Former National Security Agency director Michael Rogers has welcomed the Trump administration’s willingness to use cyber-operations to deter foreign adversaries, adding that the United States’ previous reluctance to do so was counterproductive. “My argument when I was [in government was]: “We want to keep the full range of options and capabilities available,” Rogers said Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “One of the things that frustrated me at times was: Why are we taking one element just straight off the table?” said Rogers, who left the administration in May for the private sector. “I just thought, boy, if you’re in Moscow or Beijing, you are loving this approach to life because it doesn’t really change your risk calculus,” Rogers added. While NSA director from 2014 to 2018, he also led U.S. Cyber Command. Presidential Policy Directive 20, which then-President Barack Obama signed in 2012, had installed an intricate inter-agency legal […]

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Ex-DHS official on PPD-20 repeal: Consider potential blowback to private sector

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The U.S. government’s new and reportedly more muscular approach to conducting offensive cyber-operations must carefully consider the potential blowback of such actions to the private sector, a former senior Department of Homeland Security official has warned. “DHS needs to be part of the discussion around the cost-benefit analysis to bring the private sector point of view because we know the private sector often bears the brunt of the retaliation that comes in the wake of more aggressive activity,” Suzanne Spaulding said Wednesday at the Atlantic Council. Asked what public indication there would that those concerns are being addressed, Spaulding, who served as a DHS undersecretary under President Barack Obama, said the answer lies in the private sector. Private companies will have a sense of “whether their equities were adequately considered” before a U.S. government decision to conduct offensive operations, Spaulding said during a panel discussion. “And my guess is they’ll […]

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White House: Let’s Get It On with Cyber Ops

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The White House’s National Cyber Strategy was received by many with yawns and expressions of puzzlement, as the administration of President Trump had been pruning cyber expertise from within the ranks of those advising the National Security Council (N… Continue reading White House: Let’s Get It On with Cyber Ops→

White House announces federal cyber strategy, vows to go on offensive

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The White House announced a new national cybersecurity strategy Thursday in an effort raise federal network defenses and more aggressively deter foreign adversaries from threatening U.S. interests. “We’re going to do a lot of things offensively and I think our adversaries need to know that,” White House national security adviser John Bolton told reporters. Defensive measures are central to the document, but Bolton’s call with reporters emphasized offense. “We will identify, counter, disrupt, degrade, and deter behavior in cyberspace that is destabilizing and contrary to national interests, while preserving the United States’ overmatch in and through cyberspace,” Bolton said. The strategy is a template through which federal agencies can carry out their own cybersecurity mandates, according to Bolton. “I’m satisfied that this allows us the comprehensive look at strategy across the entire government,” he said. “Each agency knows its lane and is pursuing it vigorously. That’s true in the unclassified world; it’s […]

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PPD-20 elimination opens arguments over how U.S. should conduct offensive hacking operations

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President Donald Trump has rescinded a key policy directive that governs the approval process for cyberattacks conducted by the U.S. government, potentially opening the door to more offensive operations, an administration official familiar with the matter confirmed to CyberScoop. Presidential Policy Directive 20, which then-President Barack Obama signed in 2012, had installed an intricate inter-agency legal and policy process for green-lighting cyberattacks. Critics of the process said it unnecessarily delayed offensive operations, while advocates called it an important mechanism for accounting for all of the potential repercussions of a cyberattack. Trump’s reversal of the memorandum is in keeping with his administration’s efforts to enable military commanders to more freely conduct cyber operations against adversaries such as nation-states and terrorists. While critics warn of the pitfalls of loosening restrictions on hacking operations, the policy shift answers a call from lawmakers for the government to be more willing to go on the […]

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Lawmakers to generals: Tell us the policies you need to launch cyberattacks

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Lawmakers bluntly asked military leaders for a regulatory wishlist Tuesday, in a move that could open the door for policy changes concerning when warfare units are allowed to launch hacking operations. Over the last several years, top military brass has been frustrated by the legal barriers that complicate military-led computer network attacks. Military organizations largely lack the authorities to act independently in cyberspace. Approval usually begins with a interagency review and ends with direct permission from the president. Historically, this arrangement has led to a long line of denials. One lawmaker, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., described the current approval process as being “slow as molasses.” A bipartisan effort by lawmakers in recent weeks has seen Congress vocally criticize the Trump administration for its lackluster response to Russian offensive cyber and misinformation activities. Part of this outrage stems from two prior congressional hearings where intelligence leaders, including Director of National Intelligence Dan […]

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