Washington Wants to Get Tough on Nation-State Hackers. Are Infrastructure Operators Ready?

December 30, 2025 – Published on The Wall Street Journal

The Trump administration’s shift to offense in combating nation-state hackers calls on state governments and private-sector infrastructure operators to play a bigger role in national security. That may be a tough sell.

Together, states and private-sector firms run most of the critical infrastructure across the U.S., including water systems, electricity grids, transportation networks and hospitals that are prized targets for adversarial cyberattacks.

To back up Washington’s get-tough measures, which could include going after suspected hackers in their own backyard, most states will need to bulk up on costly cyber resources. Federal security teams will also look to tap private operators for more detailed intelligence, raising the risk of liability and antitrust lawsuits, cybersecurity and policy experts say.

Getting private operators on board with offensive cyber tactics faces similar challenges, said Jason Baker, managing security consultant for threat intelligence at GuidePoint Security.

Private-sector companies will have to deal with similar constraints as states, in that they lack the legal authority to conduct offensive operations, but are uniquely positioned to share critical intelligence and expertise with federal teams, Baker said.

The problem, he said, is that current public-private information-sharing programs “are plagued by inefficiencies and rely heavily on goodwill from participants.”

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