Justice creates units to combat cybercrime

Ten specialized prosecutorial units dedicated to fighting cybercrime are being created by the Justice Department.

The new teams will be called Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) units and will focus on high-tech crimes including computer intrusions and hackings; theft of computers and high-tech components; fraud, copyright and trademark violations; and theft of trade secrets and economic espionage, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced July 20 in California's Silicon Valley.

The Northern California CHIP team successfully prosecuted one cyber.criminal who hacked into critical federal systems, Ashcroft said.

Coincidentally, the designee for FBI director, Robert Mueller, is the U.S. attorney in San Francisco.

The CHIP units will be established in nine locations in addition to San Francisco, where the CHIP concept was pioneered.

The other cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, Atlanta, Boston, New York (Brooklyn and Manhattan boroughs), Dallas, Seattle and Alexandria, Va.

In total, the 10 units will be staffed with 77 people, 48 of whom will be prosecutors.

"These new CHIP teams will focus on the prevention of cybercrime by working with local industry to anticipate future trends, identify vulnerabilities and stop cybercrime before it occurs," Ashcroft said.