Justice Department unveils second cybercrime unit

The U.S. attorney in the high-profile eastern district of Virginia has announced the creation of a cybercrime unit that will operate in conjunction with the FBI's Washington field office to investigate and prosecute cybercrime, particularly computer intrusions.

The effort is the second such cybercrime unit created within the Justice Department and the first since Attorney General John Ashcroft's July announcement for plans to create 10 Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) units. It will focus on protecting Internet service providers, defense contractors and others in northern Virginia from computer criminals, U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty said on Monday.

"The cybercrime unit will be focusing on any violation of criminal law in which the use of a computer plays an integral part in the commission of a crime," said McNulty, the first Bush administration U.S. attorney to be confirmed by the Senate.

The unit "will actively pursue those who hack into computer systems, shut down or disrupt Internet service, or launch viruses and worms." It will "join the fight against cyber terrorism, which threatens to disrupt the electronic systems of hospitals, utilities, banks, government and other key institutions," he said.

Although software piracy and digital copyright violations also will fall within its ambit, McNulty said he expects fewer prominent intellectual-property cases than in northern California, where the Justice Department, the FBI and the Customs Service established first joint task force in 1999.

"Here, we are more on the infrastructure and facilitation side," McNulty said in an interview, speaking of the prominent role played by Internet service providers in northern Virginia, including America Online, the country's largest. As a result, hacking cases are more likely to emanate from the unit of six full-time attorneys, he said.

Its unit's importance also likely will be amplified because of the increasing profile of the eastern district of Virginia. The district court has a reputation as a "rocket docket" for its speedy disposal of cases, and its generally conservative nature and close proximity to Washington have led the Bush administration's Justice Department to put increasing responsibility on McNulty.

For example, the first criminal prosecutions stemming from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States are being tried in the district.

"This district will naturally draw the Department of Justice" to cases on computer crime that they are closely following, as "they reach out and look for a district" that could win convictions against cybercrime, McNulty said.

Because almost all Internet traffic flows through the jurisdiction, the eastern district could assert authority over an increasing range of computer crimes, he said, deploying a more conventional crime-fighting analogy from the world of drugs.

"There are suppliers in Miami and buyers in Manhattan. The mistake they make is to come through the eastern district on the way."

McNulty also identified fighting cybercrime as one of his top four priorities, along with combating gun violence and drug trafficking. He has created specialized units for each area as a means of keeping prosecutors focused.