President Biden will sign an executive order on Thursday intended to boost the privacy of Americans amid continued cyberattacks against the U.S.

"Adversary countries and criminals have increasingly targeted the U.S. government, corporations and individual Americans with cyberattacks that disrupt critical services, businesses and individual lives, costing billions of dollars as well as damages," a senior administration official told reporters on a call Wednesday previewing the order.

The executive order lays out a series of initiatives to help the federal government defend against cyber attacks that threaten the privacy of Americans' digital identities.

The National Security Council (NSC) acknowledged on Wednesday the U.S. "stands alone" among major economies when it comes to the country's digital identity infrastructure. Americans encounter about $56 billion in fraud each year, the NSC said.

Part of the executive order will lower the bar for sanctions imposed by the U.S. government to punish cyber attackers.

"The goal is to make it costlier and harder for China, Russia, Iran and ransomware criminals to hack and to also signal that America means business when it comes to protecting our nation, from our economy and employment to infrastructure and innovation,"........

© The Hill