--- title: President Obama Sanctions: Foreign Hackers Now at Risk for Sanctions description: The White House added a new tool to fight cyber-attacks, giving the Treasury department the authority to sanction individual hackers. canonical: https://time.com/3767207/sanctions-cyber-attacks/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-01T15:39:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T05:37:07.125Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Can Now Sanction Foreign Hackers og:description: The White House added a new tool to respond to cyber attacks. og:url: https://time.com/3767207/sanctions-cyber-attacks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt36835373168768fd/6987781635ba6f8092c064c1/460699752.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3646 og:image:height: 2051 og:image:alt: President Obama Holds News Conference At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Can Now Sanction Foreign Hackers twitter:description: The White House added a new tool to respond to cyber attacks. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt36835373168768fd/6987781635ba6f8092c064c1/460699752.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Administration Can Now Sanction Foreign Hackers > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=5d40a1ce-a236-4a90-ad8c-01f592508ad4&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 1, 2015 3:39 PM UTC  President Barack Obama holds a press conference during which he discussed Sony Pictures' decision not to release "The Interview" in wake of the alleged North Korean hacking scandal at The White House on December 19, 2014 in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama holds a press conference during which he discussed Sony Pictures' decision not to release "The Interview" in wake of the alleged North Korean hacking scandal at The White House on December 19, 2014 in Washington, DC. Leigh Vogel—WireImage by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 1, 2015 3:39 PM UTC President Obama added a new tool to respond to cyber attacks, authorizing the federal government to levy sanctions against suspected hackers. Under an executive order signed Wednesday, the Secretary of Treasury can freeze assets of those who engage in “malicious cyber-enabled activity” anywhere in the world so long as that activity is dangerous to the national security, foreign policy or economic stability of America. The White House is not currently targeting anyone for cyber-related sanctions, but Administration officials said on a conference call they felt it was important to have the framework in place. The sanctions come in the wake of several high-profile cyber-attacks including Target andJ.P. Morgan Chase as well as a hack of entertainment giant Sony that was blamed on North Korea. Though the Sony hack led to the first U.S. government imposed sanctions related to a cyber attack, White House officials said Wednesday they have never before had the authority to punish individuals based on the activity, rather than the region or country responsible. “What we’re trying to do is enable us to have a new way of both deterring \[action\] and imposing new costs against cyber actors wherever they may be,” said Michael Daniel, a special assistant to the President and cyber-security coordinator. White House officials say the new sanctions are not meant to replace the existing tools that the Obama administration has put in place to confront cyber threats, but rather to “fill in the gaps.” Under the authority, officials would also be able to target businesses that use illegally obtained trade secrets or information to gain an unfair edge, and individuals and companies that give or attempt to give serious hackers a financial boost. “We don’t want to just deter those with their fingers on the keyboard,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3767207/sanctions-cyber-attacks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3767207/sanctions-cyber-attacks/"},"headline":"Obama Administration Can Now Sanction Foreign Hackers","datePublished":"2015-04-01T15:39:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:37:07.125Z","description":"The White House added a new tool to fight cyber-attacks, giving the Treasury department the authority to sanction individual hackers.","url":"https://time.com/3767207/sanctions-cyber-attacks/","keywords":["White House","Terrorism","cybersecurity"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt36835373168768fd/6987781635ba6f8092c064c1/460699752.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt36835373168768fd/6987781635ba6f8092c064c1/460699752.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Holds News Conference At The White House","caption":"President Obama Holds News Conference At The White House","creditText":"Leigh Vogel—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3767207/sanctions-cyber-attacks/","name":"Obama Administration Can Now Sanction Foreign Hackers"}}]}] ```