U.S. to counter China’s global surveillance push

National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross urged the U.S. to counter China's "attempt to export a surveillance state across planet Earth" by advancing a "clean American tech stack" worldwide, speaking Friday at the 2025 Meridian Summit in Washington, D.C, reports CyberScoop.

Cairncross said the U.S. must reassert its leadership in global technology standards and make clear to Beijing that its cyber behavior, targeting critical infrastructure and creating "strategic dilemmas," is unacceptable. He added that a new national cybersecurity strategy under President Donald Trump will emphasize posture and goals over length or detail.

His immediate priority is to strengthen the Office of the National Cyber Director, which lawmakers created after the Cyberspace Solarium Commission's recommendation. The successor group, CSC 2.0, recently reported that ONCD lacks sufficient authority to fulfill its mission. Cairncross also pressed Congress to renew the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 for another decade, warning that its expiration endangers vital data-sharing protections.