Cyber attackers face US sanctions as Obama declares threat of malicious attacks a 'national emergency'

US president Barack Obama has issued an Executive Order to give new powers to senior US government officials to impose sanctions in response to "the threat posed by malicious cyber actors".

Obama said the threat of malicious cyber attacks originating outside of the US "constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States" and declared a "national emergency" to "deal with this threat".

In a statement issued alongside the executive order, Obama said: "This Executive Order authorises the secretary of the treasury, in consultation with the attorney general and the secretary of state, to impose sanctions on individuals or entities that engage in malicious cyber-enabled activities that create a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States."

The sanctions that can be imposed include fines and/or imprisonment of individuals as well as the blocking of organisations' transactions. However, the officials can only act in certain circumstances, Obama said.

"The malicious cyber-enabled activity must have the purpose or effect of significantly harming or compromising critical infrastructure; misappropriating funds or economic resources, trade secrets, personal identifiers, or financial information for commercial or competitive advantage or private financial gain; knowingly receiving or using trade secrets that were stolen by cyber-enabled means for commercial or competitive advantage or private financial gain; disrupting the availability of a computer or network of computers (for example, through a denial of service attack); and attempting, assisting or providing material support for any of the above activities," he said.

Obama said the Executive Order "offers a targeted tool for countering the most significant cyber threats" the US faces.