“This piece argues that an authorization permitting the private sector to conduct OCOs would have dire consequences. Enlisting the private sector to undertake OCOs will complicate oversight, empower a dubious and corrupt industry, create counterintelligence risks, fuel a cyber arms race that could lead to system-wide instability, make critical infrastructure insecure, provoke countermeasures against perpetrators, and put civilians at risk.

Whereas previous U.S. administrations have sought to contain these dynamics through law and policies, the Trump administration would instead facilitate them. Several U.S. adversaries, including Russia, China, and Iran, and at least one ally, the United Arab Emirates, already outsource offensive cyber operations to private firma. With the United States following in their path, it would normalize private-sector OCOs internationally, emboldening authoritarian and illiberal governments to undertake even more OCOs, and multiplying their negative implications on U.S. security.”

https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-perils-of-privatized-cyberwarfare

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