WASHINGTON, June 10, 2025 – President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on Friday revising U.S. cybersecurity policy by amending two previous cybersecurity-related Executive Orders signed under the Obama and Biden administrations.
Obama’s 2015 Executive Order 13694 implemented strict sanctions for cyber security crimes, such as asset freezing and travel bans. Trump’s recent Order narrowed the scope of EO 13694, limiting the sanctions solely to “any foreign person.”
Executive Order 14144, signed by Biden during his final days in office, also sought to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity. It notably promoted digital identity documents as a means of accessing public benefits. However, Trump’s recent Order struck down section five of EO 14144, citing that digital identity documents created an unnecessary opportunity for illegal alien fraud.
Trump’s Order was met with criticism. “The fixation on revoking digital ID mandates is prioritizing questionable immigration benefits over proven cybersecurity benefits,” Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation told Politico.
Besides amending the Obama and Biden-era EOs, Trump’s Order called for the establishment of artificial intelligence and quantum computing programs to combat rising cyber threats.
