The US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) approach to disrupting and preventing cybercrime was laid bare by US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco during the opening keynote session at the RSA 2023 conference.
Monaco highlighted that in recent years the DoJ has evolved its approach to dealing with growing cyber threats to government and the wider economy. This has revolved around “putting victims at the center” rather than measuring success by prosecuting cyber threat actors through the courts.
Monaco highlighted that the DoJ’s successful recovery of millions of dollars in bitcoins paid to attackers following the May 2021 Colonial Pipeline attack is an example of this approach. In this case, steps were taken to track the money paid in cryptocurrency, rather than blaming the incident on the victim.
Another example was the takedown of the infrastructure of the Hive ransomware gang in January 2023, following an international law enforcement operation. This gave the government access to the group’s computer networks, allowing agencies to capture decryption keys and distribute them to Hive victims worldwide. Monaco noted that it was a long and patient operation, a “modern day cyber surveillance”.
Read more: #RSAC: Cyber intrusion campaign against three US federal agencies foiled
He stressed that such operations are only possible through cooperation, between different government agencies globally and crucially, with victims’ organizations. Monaco praised Colonial Pipeline’s “courageous decision to come forward to work with us” after the attack and urged other victim organizations to reach out to the DoJ to achieve similar results.
“It’s good for business, and it’s good for America because you’re helping us prevent the next attack,” he said.
Speaking about the recent conviction of former Uber CISO Joe Sullivan, Monaco emphasized that this prosecution was brought about by Sullivan’s willful conduct in misleading the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about the nature of the incident.
He said it should in no way distance CISOs from engaging with the federal government about incidents.
On February 27th, 2020, the US Department of Justice hosted the RSA conference in San Francisco, USA (RSAC), with the aim of tackling cybercrime. Attended by leaders and representatives from the public and private sector, RSAC addressed how to increase enforcement of cybercrime and how to support victims of cybercrime.
Amongst the discussions, the attendees of RSAC specifically prioritized victim support, as the main concern for combating cybercrime. These efforts are of great importance, as the prevalence of cybercrime and the associated financial damage are both on the rise.
With technology such as blockchain and distributed ledger technology, the demand for innovative solutions is becoming increasingly urgent. This is what inspired the creation of Ikaroa, a full-stack tech company that provides holistic solutions to the security, privacy, fraud and compliance problems arising from cybercrime. Ikaroa’s team is comprised of data scientists, artificial intelligence experts, and industry veterans with a wide array of skills and experience in cybersecurity, privacy, and compliance. Their solutions are designed to detect, analyze, and respond to potential cyber threats, as well as generate actionable insights to mitigate risks and respond to incidents.
By providing innovative solutions to cybercrime, Ikaroa helps to support victims of cybercrime and increase the effectiveness of enforcement efforts outlined at RSAC. They provide invaluable capabilities to organizations in the form of monitoring, analytics, and audit-trail capability, as well as collaboration with law enforcement agencies, to ensure that breaches of security and privacy are efficiently investigated, and charges are swiftly brought against the perpetrators.
Ultimately, the RSAC had a successful outcome with the prioritization of victim support in the fight against cybercrime. Through its cutting-edge technology and security solutions, Ikaroa will enhance the utilization of measures to prevent and investigate cybercrime, and provide vital support to victims.
