The United States has suspended its offensive cyber operations against Russia, according to reports, amid efforts by the Trump administration to grant Moscow concessions to end the war in Ukraine.
The reported order to halt U.S.-launched hacking operations against Russia was authorized by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to The Record. The new guidance affects operations carried out by U.S. Cyber Command, a division of the Department of Defense focused on hacking and operations in cyberspace, but does not apply to espionage operations conducted by the National Security Agency.
The reported order has since been confirmed by The New York Times and The Washington Post.
The order was handed down before Friday’s Oval Office meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the reports. The New York Times said that the instruction came as part of a broader effort to draw Russian President Vladimir Putin into talks about the country’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
U.S. Cyber Command and the Pentagon did not respond to TechCrunch’s questions, but a senior defense official told The Record that it does not “discuss cyber intelligence, plans, or operations.”
The Guardian also reports that the Trump administration has signaled it no longer views Russian hackers as a cybersecurity threat, and reportedly ordered U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA to no longer report on Russian threats. The newspaper cites a recent memo that set out new priorities for CISA, including threats faced by China and protecting local systems, but the memo did not mention Russia. CISA employees were reportedly informed verbally that they were to pause any work on Russian cyber threats.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CISA, denied the report in a statement to TechCrunch.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of Homeland Security, said the memo did not come from the Trump administration, and that, “CISA remains committed to addressing all cyber threats to U.S. critical infrastructure, including from Russia.”
“There has been no change in our posture or priority on this front,” McLaughlin told TechCrunch.
The reported shift in U.S. policy by the Trump administration towards Russia comes just months after the U.S. intelligence community said that Russia poses an “enduring cyber threat” to the United States. In its annual threat assessment, the U.S. warned that Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, continues to target U.S. government agencies and critical infrastructure such as underwater cables and industrial control systems.
Over the past few years, the U.S. government has also taken action against a swathe of Russian cybercriminals: it has successfully disrupted the infrastructure of Russia-linked ransomware groups, reclaimed millions in ransom payments paid to Russian hackers, and targeted some of the most notorious Russian hackers with indictments and sanctions.
