The Justice Department’s Criminal Division held a roundtable discussion last week on challenges related to cybersecurity and data breach investigations.
The goal of the roundtable was to work with the private sector on how to improve cooperation with law enforcement and better prosecute and prevent data breaches. Earlier this year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions established a Cyber-Digital Task Force, which assessed the cyber-enabled threats facing the nation. It also documented the way that the Justice Department has combatted those threats.
Last week’s roundtable featured speeches by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Assistant Attorney General John Demers of the Department’s National Security Division, as well as officials from the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, the White House’s National Security Council, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski moderated the discussion with several cybersecurity experts and practitioners in attendance.
“Public-private partnerships addressing cybercrime play a critical role in our efforts to hold criminals accountable for data breaches,” Rosenstein said. “We depend on the private sector to help us maintain the rule of law in cyberspace at every stage of our work. That includes working together to obtain critical evidence for investigations and trials and collaborating on developing the legal authorities needed to protect our 21st-century economy. Today’s discussion aims to share best practices, common challenges, and emerging threats, and identify how the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners can help private industry to protect Americans from harm while safeguarding privacy. Through roundtables like this and the continuing collaboration they fuel, we will meet emerging threats, protect America’s technological innovations, and preserve public safety and security.”
The Justice Department’s Criminal Division created the Cybersecurity Unit in 2014. Since then it has issued guidance to help organizations improve detection of cyber vulnerabilities.
“The Criminal Division has long been recognized for its innovative and aggressive pursuit of the most sophisticated cybercriminals,” Benczkowski said. “Active engagement with the private sector through events like the Cybersecurity Industry Roundtable is essential to our effectiveness as prosecutors because it allows us to draw upon a broad range of experience to get better at what we do. The Criminal Division’s commitment to fighting cybercrime is unwavering, and we look forward to continued close cooperation in that fight with our counterparts in the private sector.”
At the meeting last week, the Cybersecurity Unit released a new document providing even more comprehensive guidance that reflects feedback it received during its outreach efforts.