|
 The revamp, led by Assistant Attorney General John Carlin, also
marks a recognition that national security threats have broadened
and become more technologically savvy since the 9/11 attacks against
the United States.
As part of the shift, the Justice Department has created a new
position in the senior ranks of its national security division to
focus on cyber security and recruited an experienced prosecutor,
Luke Dembosky, to fill the position.
The agency is also renaming its counter-espionage section to reflect
its expanding work on cases involving violations of export control
laws, Carlin confirmed in an interview.
Such laws prohibit the export without appropriate licenses of
products or machinery that could be used in weapons or other defense
programs, or goods or services to countries sanctioned by the U.S.
government.
"We need to develop the capability and bandwidth to deal with what
we can see as an evolving threat," said Carlin, who was confirmed to
his post in April.
As Carlin builds his team, he has also recruited a new deputy, Mary
McCord, from the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington.
The result, according to experts, could be an uptick in the number
of national security-related cases brought in federal court, a shift
in focus from the National Security Division's prior mandate to
investigate intelligence violations.
"This is not just a reshuffling of the deck," said former national
security cyber crime prosecutor Nicholas Oldham, who is now in
private practice.
CYBER THREATS
The changes come amid reports that hackers in Russia and elsewhere
are targeting everyone from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
and the European Union, to JPMorgan Chase & Co and other financial
institutions. [ID:nL2N0S81AG]
The counter espionage section, which deals less with on-the-ground
spies than it used to, will now be called the Counter Intelligence
and Export Controls Section. A network of terrorism prosecutors
around the country called the Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council, or
ATAC, will also be renamed the National Security/ATAC network to
make clear its broader responsibilities, Carlin said.
[to top of second column]
|
In 2012, Carlin helped create a similar network of national security
cyber specialists in each U.S. Attorney's office around the country.
That was the first of his efforts to start building cyber expertise
within the group of prosecutors that had access to national security
intelligence information.
In the first public case to come out of the effort, the agency
charged five Chinese military officers in May, accusing them of
hacking into U.S. nuclear, metal and solar companies to steal trade
secrets. The move ratcheted up tensions between the two countries.
"This prosecution raises the risk that other countries are going to
go after our employees ... it's a risky strategy, but a bold one,"
said Amy Jeffress, a former national security prosecutor who is now
in private practices at Arnold & Porter.
While the Chinese officers are not expected to be extradited to face
charges in the United States, Carlin said his team is busy with
similar cases that would likely be litigated in court.
"I think you will more regularly see the use of the criminal justice
system ... We are now actively investigating a variety of
nation-state cases. Not all, but some, will result in prosecutions,"
he said.
In addition to Dembosky, who was coordinating litigation within the
criminal division's computer crime section and will serve as one of
four deputy assistant attorney generals, Carlin has also brought on
board others with cyber expertise. He expects to bring in several
more cyber lawyers soon. His chief of staff, Anita Singh, also spent
time as a prosecutor in the computer crime section.
(Reporting by Aruna Viswanatha. Editing by Karey Van Hall and Andre
Grenon)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
