Press Release
For Immediate Release
September 5, 2001
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U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Southern District of New York
Marvin Smilon, Herbert Hadad
PAO
(212) 637-2600
Joseph V. De Marco
(212) 637-2203
Robert Strang
212-637-2214
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MARY JO WHITE, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of
New York, announced today the formation of a Computer Hacking and Intellectual
Property ("CHIPs") unit, comprised of five Assistant United
States Attorneys who will specialize in computer and intellectual property
crimes.
The CHIPs unit will focus on computer intrusions; Internet and computer
fraud; theft of trade secrets and economic espionage; theft of computer
and high tech equipment components; criminal copyright and trademark offenses;
and other forms of computer, Internet, and electronic crimes. The CHIPs
unit will also work closely with federal, state and local law enforcement
and with industry to develop, coordinate, and implement effective strategies
to combat these high tech crimes.
On July 20, 2001, Attorney General JOHN ASHCROFT announced the creation
of 10 CHIPs units across the country, including one in the Southern District
of New York.
In making that announcement, Attorney General ASHCROFT stated: "Everyday,
the crimes that will be targeted by CHIPs units result in tremendous losses
to consumers, businesses, universities and government agencies. What is
more damaging, however, is the perception of lawlessness that computer
crimes creates. As a result we hope to reinforce the message to would-be
criminals that there are no free passes in cyberspace. Crimes will be
investigated and criminals will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of
the law."
In recent years, The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District
of New York has been in the forefront of investigating and prosecuting
cybercrime and intellectual property crimes. These include the arrest
of Kazakhstan nationals in London in connection with the attempted extortion
of Bloomberg, L.P.; the prosecution of computer security specialist Jesus
Oquendo for computer hacking and electronic eavesdropping; the prosecution
of a law firm paralegal for the electronic theft of a litigation trial
plan; the prosecution of Raymond Torricelli for intruding into NASA computers;
the theft of proprietary business plans belonging to MasterCard and the
attempted sale of those plans to representatives of Visa; and the first
prosecution of Internet sports gambling operations.
Ms. WHITE stated: "The formation of a Computer Hacking and Intellectual
Property Unit underscores this Office's commitment to responding vigorously
to the rapid changes in computer technology and the increasing sophistication
of criminals who seek to use these new technologies to victimize society.
The CHIPs unit will develop a close partnership with the computer, software,
and high tech community to ensure that these new forms of electronic crimes
are detected, reported, investigated, and effectively prosecuted."
Assistant United States Attorneys JOSEPH V. De MARCO and ROBERT R. STRANG
will be coordinating the CHIPs unit. Assistant United States Attorneys
MARC A. WEINSTEIN, MARK MENDELSOHN, and ANDREW DEVORE will also be members
of the unit.
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