The Trump administration released a cybersecurity strategy on Friday, pledging that the United States will combat malicious cyber threat actors, protect critical infrastructure, harness the power of artificial intelligence, and reduce regulations on businesses. The seven-page "U.S. Cybersecurity Strategy" does not provide specific details on how the government will implement the six pillars of President Donald Trump's ambitious cybersecurity agenda, but it is filled with rhetoric echoing Trump's "America First" stance, boasting about U.S. military actions against Iran and Venezuela, and threatening to inflict severe damage on nations that attack the United States in cyberspace.

"Unlike other administrations, the Trump administration will not tinker at the edges, adopt partial measures and vague strategies, or ignore the growing and increasingly serious cyber threats," the document states. Instead, according to the strategy, the United States will "conduct unprecedented coordination between the government and the private sector, invest in the best technology, continue world-class innovation, and fully leverage U.S. cyber capabilities to carry out offensive and defensive missions."

Deterring foreign hackers

Given that state actors and cybercriminals are increasingly disrupting the operations of U.S. companies and threatening critical infrastructure, the strategy states that the United States must find a way to impose costs on adversaries to deter them from targeting U.S. networks. The Trump administration plans to "unleash the power of the private sector by creating incentives to identify and disrupt adversary networks and expand our national capabilities." The document calls for new measures to stop intrusions before they damage important systems and to "degrade (attackers') capabilities and strength."

The document may signal a greater role for U.S. Cyber Command, the military unit responsible for protecting Department of Defense networks and penetrating foreign infrastructure for espionage and sabotage missions. "Our warriors in cyberspace work every day to ensure that anyone who tries to harm the United States will pay the heaviest and most terrible price," the strategy says. The section on countering adversaries targets both government-backed entities and criminal groups. "Cybercrime and intellectual property theft are among the most serious threats to the global economy. We will eradicate criminal infrastructure and cut off its funding outlets and safe havens," the document states.

As part of that effort, Trump signed an executive order on Friday targeting transnational criminal organizations engaged in cybercrime. "We will work together to create real risks for adversaries who try to harm us and impose consequences on those who do take action against us," the new strategy says.

Protecting critical infrastructure

The strategy briefly mentions the importance of strengthening protection for the power grid, hospitals, water systems, and other critical infrastructure. The Trump administration has pledged to "identify, prioritize, and harden" this infrastructure, a move that may resemble the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's "National Critical Functions" initiative during the Biden administration. The Trump administration has significantly downsized CISA, leaving its remaining staff demoralized and lacking direction, which has raised questions about whether the agency can effectively lead the new strategy's infrastructure protection pillar.

Trump has also called on states to take on more responsibility for protecting infrastructure within their borders, which has frustrated local leaders who say they cannot afford the task. The new strategy appears conciliatory on the issue of shared responsibility, declaring that the federal government "will catalyze the role of state, local, tribal, and territorial authorities as a complement to, not a replacement for, our national cybersecurity efforts."

Reducing business regulations

The business community's biggest cybersecurity-related demand of the Trump administration is less regulation, and the strategy promises the government will deliver. "Cyber defense should not become an expensive checklist that delays preparation, action, and response. We will streamline cyber regulations to reduce compliance burdens, address liability issues, and better coordinate regulators and industry globally," the document says. The Biden administration imposed new cybersecurity regulations on several critical infrastructure sectors and began developing a congressionally mandated incident reporting rule covering all sectors. But the Trump administration has delayed that rule to seek more industry feedback, and federal leaders now say they want to avoid overburdening security professionals during incident response.

"We will remove burdensome and ineffective regulations so that our industry partners can innovate quickly on new technologies. Private sector partners must be able to respond and recover quickly to ensure the continuity of the U.S. economy," the new strategy says.

Leading in AI and other key technologies

The Trump administration describes AI as one of the most important technological developments in modern history and emphasizes the need for the United States to dominate the AI market, especially amid competition with China. The strategy discusses the economic and national security benefits of AI and says the government will work with the private sector and foreign partners to support the success of U.S. suppliers. The administration also plans to increase the use of AI in cyber defense. "We will rapidly implement AI-driven cyber tools to detect, divert, and deceive threat actors," the strategy says, vowing to "quickly adopt and scale agentic AI."

Other new technologies are also briefly mentioned in the strategy, including post-quantum encryption algorithms, which businesses are encouraged to prepare to adopt. "We will build secure technology and supply chains, protecting user privacy from design to deployment, including supporting the security of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. We will promote the adoption of post-quantum cryptography and secure quantum computing," the strategy pledges. The document also hints at the Trump administration's intention to oppose international AI standards aimed at limiting harms such as bias and disinformation. "We will engage internationally through diplomacy, commerce, and operations to ensure that norms and standards reflect our values," the strategy says.

Commitments on workforce and federal networks

The strategy also addresses two other cybersecurity issues that often receive less attention: expanding the pool of American workers qualified for cybersecurity jobs and improving the federal government's ability to protect its own networks from hackers. "We need a pipeline to cultivate and share talent. We will remove barriers that hinder industry, academia, government, and the military from coordinating incentives and building a highly skilled cyber workforce," the strategy says in a brief section on workforce development.

On protecting government networks, the Trump administration has vowed to "accelerate the modernization, defensibility, and resilience of federal information systems," including adopting post-quantum cryptography, implementing zero-trust architecture, and migrating more information systems to cloud platforms. Additionally, the document says, "AI-driven cybersecurity solutions" will help the government "defend federal networks and block intrusions at scale."