Hacking Back: The Private Sector’s Expanding Role in U.S. Cyber Operations

In this episode of Cache Me if You Can, we examine the expanding role of private companies in U.S. offensive cyber operations and what recent policy developments reveal about the future of public-private cooperation in cyberspace. For decades, offensive cyber operations have largely remained the responsibility of government agencies. However, a new White House memorandum exploring how vetted private companies could conduct cyber surveillance and disruption operations against foreign cybercriminal organizations raises important questions about the boundaries between government authority, private-sector capabilities, and national security.

Our guests, Emily Harding, Vice President of the Defense and Security Department and Director of the Intelligence, National Security, and Technology Program at CSIS, and Dr. Nikita Shah, Senior Fellow with the Intelligence, National Security, and Technology Program at CSIS, bring extensive experience in intelligence, national security, and cyber policy. Together, they unpack what the administration's new approach could mean for the future of offensive cyber operations and the evolving relationship between government and industry.