US President Donald Trump has taken steps to loosen limits on when the government can deploy cyber weapons against adversaries.
The Wall Street Journal says Trump signed an order reversing a directive by former president Barack Obama that mapped out an elaborate process before the United States engaged in cyberattacks.
One Trump administration official described it as a "step forward" intended to help support military operations, deter foreign election influence and thwart intellectual property theft by meeting such threats with a more forceful response, the Journal said.
National security adviser John Bolton began the effort to remove the directive after he took up his position in April, the official told the Journal.
Critics of the Obama-era policy have seen it as preventing a quick and forceful response to cyberattacks by involving too many federal agencies in the planning.
