Security News > 2020 > July > Report: CIA runs secret cyberwar with little oversight after Trump gave the OK, say US government officials

The CIA is running a secret cyberwar including Russian-style hack-and-leak operations with little or no oversight, US officials have warned.

The approval for the operations stems from a National Security Presidential Memorandum signed in 2018 by President Trump which has long been known about but the contents of which remain top secret.

The dumping online of details on millions of debit cards belonging to customers of three Iranian banks linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps back in November was almost certainly a CIA operation, the report states.

While you might well expect the CIA to carry out these sorts of operations against America's enemies, the concern is that with the CIA not required to explain or even inform others about its actions, they could cause serious problems, including damaging the interests of allies and even other arms of the US government.

President Trump signed off on the memo that grants these new powers: something that surprised CIA officials given the president's long-standing suspicion and often hostility toward the intelligence services.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/07/16/cia_secret_cyberwar/