President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that aims to prevent foreign actors from using cloud computing platforms for malicious cyber interference against the US.
The order, signed on Trump’s last full day in office, directs the Commerce Department to develop rules that require cloud service providers to identify and take action against foreign entities suspected of using the services for malicious cyber-enabled activities.
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“Foreign malicious cyber actors aim to harm the United States economy through the theft of intellectual property and sensitive data and to threaten national security by targeting United States critical infrastructure for malicious cyber-enabled activities,” Trump’s order says.
“This order provides authority to impose record-keeping obligations with respect to foreign transactions,” it says.
Trump’s order comes two weeks after several US intelligence agencies attributed a sophisticated malware campaign to Russia. The massive breach reportedly compromised an email system used by senior leadership at the Treasury Department and systems at several other federal agencies.
Trump has been reluctant to blame Russia as the source of cyber interference in the US, suggesting instead that China is to blame for the hack.
In 2020, the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a reported highlighting multiple instances in which the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential campaign, even after the US intelligence community warned that the data came from the Kremlin.