The executive order allows the Treasury and Attorney General’s office to impose sanctions on hackers posing “a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States.”
This could respond to so-called distributed denial-of-service attacks, theft of trade secrets or credit card numbers or other “sensitive information,” according to a White House statement.
Sanctions could also be imposed on companies that use trade secrets or other stolen data or assist hackers in their efforts.
Officials said there were no immediate plans to use these sanctions but that the additional tool would bolster US efforts using law enforcement, diplomacy or military actions.
“We intend to use this tool judiciously and in extraordinary circumstances,” said John Smith of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers sanctions.
Obama said the new sanctions would “in no way target the unwitting victims of cyberattacks,” such as people whose computers are hijacked, and that the program would not be used against cybersecurity researchers or to curb freedom of online expression.
The sanctions are “not a tool that we will use every day,” US national security adviser Lisa Monaco said, adding that “law-abiding companies have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
Under the program, a company or individual who claims to be unfairly targeted could file an administrative appeal or challenge the designation in court, officials said.
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