Chris Giancarlo proposes reviving letters of marque to combat Lazarus Group

Chris Perkins: Chris Perkins serves as president of CoinFund, an investment firm focused on decentralized technologies, and co-chairs the Blockchain Association’s National Security Committee. He contributes to policy discussions on crypto, national security, and innovation in digital assets. Perkins co-authored the Cointelegraph op-ed with Giancarlo that proposes updating letters of marque and reprisal to address threats like the Lazarus Group. Lazarus Group: The Lazarus Group is a state-sponsored cyber threat actor associated with North Korea that conducts espionage, theft, and disruptive operations targeting organizations worldwide. It has evolved its techniques to include advanced malware and encryption methods in ongoing campaigns. The news highlights the group as a primary example of the state-backed hacking threats that Giancarlo argues require a modernized private sector countermeasure. Chris Giancarlo: Chris Giancarlo is the former chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission who has become a prominent advocate for digital assets and financial innovation. He now focuses on strategic advisory roles in fintech and crypto, along with research, writing, and public policy work. In the news, Giancarlo proposes reviving constitutional letters of marque and reprisal to enable private sector responses to state-sponsored hackers such as the Lazarus Group, building on an op-ed he co-authored. Cyber Espionage: The Lazarus Group has been attributed to recent campaigns, including Operation FlashHole, that target organizations in South Korea with sophisticated malware and post-quantum cryptographic techniques. Policy Proposal: Giancarlo and Perkins have advanced the idea of modernizing constitutional authorities in a Cointelegraph op-ed to enable private sector action against state-sponsored cyber threats.