Trump kills clearances for infosec's SentinelOne, ex-CISA boss Chris Krebs

Alleges cybersecurity agency was ‘weaponized’ to suppress debunked theories

Updated The Trump administration on Wednesday ordered a criminal investigation into alleged censorship conducted by the USA’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, aka CISA, plus revocation of any security clearances held by the agency's ex-head Chris Krebs and anyone else at SentinelOne, the cybersecurity company where he now works.

Krebs was fired by Trump in 2020 after the CISA boss indicated, correctly, the 2020 election was won by Joe Biden fair and square without any outside interference, and that Trump lost.

The White House outlined its crackdown this week on Krebs in a presidential memorandum that accused him of using CISA to pursue a “partisan mission” that saw him direct the agency to work with social media companies to censor “disfavored speech” online on matters such as the contents of a laptop belonging to Biden's son Hunter that allegedly containing evidence of corruption and proof that “the 2020 election was rigged and stolen.”

The memo also claims Krebs “skewed the bona fide debate about COVID-19 by attempting to discredit widely shared views that ran contrary to CISA’s favored perspective.”

The President directed the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to review Krebs’ activities as head of CISA, and in any other government roles, and demanded “a comprehensive evaluation of all of CISA’s activities over the last six years” focused on any instances in which the org suppressed free speech.

The proclaimation also ordered Krebs’ security clearance be cancelled, if he has any, along with any held by staff at SentinelOne, where he currently works. We've asked SentinelOne and Krebs for comment, including any insight to any impact from this revocation order.

'I am your retribution'

The current Trump administration has already cancelled security clearances of many former government officials, usually targeting those who opposed or did not fall in line with the president during his first term as President. It has also attacked law firms whose staff worked on cases that challenged his first administration’s actions.

Those actions are unprecedented and punitive.

So is revoking Krebs’ security clearance and doing the same to others at SentinelOne – an organization that had nothing to do with the former CISA leaders action’s while in office.

Some elements of the memo are accurate: The Biden administration did engage with social media giants to suggest their moderation policies could usefully be revised to consider whether COVID-19 misinformation that could endanger to public health should be allowed to circulate widely. Such practices were later found to be legally OK and big tech was not required to do anything or threatened with repercussions.

The view that Hunter Biden’s laptop contained evidence that his father, President Joe Biden, knew of his son’s attempts to profit from the family name was indeed not widely reported when the allegations were first raised – largely because media outlets could not verify the chain of custody for the PC in question and therefore doubted the authenticity of the content it contained.

Other elements of the memo, such as claims that the 2020 election was rigged, have been disproved many times. Because those claims weren't at all true.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump used the phrase “I am your retribution” to describe the actions he intended to take against perceived enemies of his MAGA movement if re-elected President. This memo feels like that promise in action. ®

Updated at 0345 UTC, April 10

SentinelOne sent the following statement to The Register:

We are a cybersecurity company – our mission is to defend customers, enterprises, and governments against cyber threats by leveraging the most advanced Artificial Intelligence. We view the White House as a crucial collaborator on that mission, and we will continue to support a strong America at a time of heightened geopolitical threats. Our team’s focus remains on being a force for good in this industry and the world. We will continue to nurture our partnerships in the U.S. government, military, and intelligence community and collaborate in our shared mission to defend U.S. critical infrastructure in cyberspace as we always have.

In regard to the Executive Order dated April 9, 2025 focused on Chris Krebs in his prior role as a government employee, we will actively cooperate in any review of security clearances held by any of our personnel – currently less than 10 employees overall and only where required by existing government processes and procedures to secure government systems. Accordingly, we do not expect this to materially impact our business in any way.