Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has paused the U.S. military's offensive cyberoperations against Russia, officials said Monday.
As first reported by The Record and then later confirmed by other outlets including the Associated Press, Hegseth's order suspends "offensive cyberoperations" by U.S. Cyber Command.
The exact details of suspended work are not clear, but offensive cyberoperations as a general category may include industrial espionage, intelligence gathering, the propagation of disinformation and the disruption of physical infrastructure like power and water systems or hospitals.
The order does not affect operations at other agencies like the CIA or the National Security Agency, which have their own programs targeting Russia within their areas of expertise.
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The change of policy follows the dissolution of an FBI operation that monitored election interference, and the furloughing of staff who worked on election security issues at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. But some officials and information experts say the U.S. should be expanding its ability to wage information warfare, not curtailing it.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe told lawmakers during his confirmation hearings that cyberespionage is a critical part of modern warfare.
“I want us to have all of the tools necessary to go on offense against our adversaries in the cyber community,” Ratcliffe said.
The White House has not commented on the Defense Department's order.
