UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
CREATES COMPUTER CRIMES SECTION

September 6, 2001

United States Attorney John S. Gordon today announced the creation of a Computer Crimes Section to prosecute high-technology and intellectual property offenses.

The new section will handle the prosecution of crimes such as computer intrusions, denial of service attacks, virus and worm proliferation, electronic wiretapping, and telecommunications fraud (sometimes referred to as "phone phreaking"). Prosecutors in the new section will also be responsible for intellectual property offenses, including copyright and trademark infringement, software piracy, theft of trade secrets and economic espionage.

The newly created section is a product of Attorney General John Ashcroft’s recent directive to a number of United States Attorney's Offices throughout the country to create specialized prosecutorial units dedicated to fighting computer-related and intellectual property crimes. The United States Attorney's Office in Los Angeles was allocated two attorney slots as well as several support positions to assist it in creating such a new specialized unit.

In addition to prosecuting high-technology offenses, lawyers in the Computer Crimes Section will be responsible for providing regional training programs to increase expertise among federal, state and local law enforcement.

The Computer Crimes Section will also work to promote positive working relationships with the high-tech community to encourage victims to report computer crime and intellectual property offenses to law enforcement. Because the Central District of California is home to numerous high-tech companies, major universities, military bases, defense contractors and the entertainment industry, it has become a popular target for cybercriminals. "The members of the new Computer Crimes Section are dedicated to vigorously prosecuting those responsible for cybercrime in the district," United States Attorney Gordon said.

The Computer Crimes Section will be headed by Assistant United States Attorney Arif Alikhan. A four-year veteran of the United States Attorney’s Office, AUSA Alikhan for the past two years has focused on prosecuting complex computer intrusion cases, including that of Jason Allen Diekman, who has been convicted in relation to his hacking into NASA computers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, as well as hundreds of other computers throughout the country.

The Computer Crimes Section will be rounded out with five Assistant United States Attorneys. They are: Elena Duarte, James Spertus, Wesley Hsu, Christopher Johnson and Jackie Chooljian. Additionally, the Santa Ana branch of the United States Attorney's Office will have two Assistant United States Attorneys – Tom McConville and Doug McCormick – trained and designated to prosecute computer crimes committed in Orange County.

"These outstanding prosecutors bring a high-degree of expertise and professionalism to the Computer Crimes Section," said United States Attorney Gordon. "Cybercrime is a growing area of concern, and my office intends to attack it aggressively."

The Computer Crimes Section will be part of the Criminal Division within the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, which prosecutes federal cases in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

CONTACT: Assistant United States Attorney Arif Alikhan
Chief, Computer Crimes Section
(213) 894-2476

• More information on:  CHIP factsheet
• More information on:  Law Enforcement Coordination for High-Tech Crimes
• More information on:  Intellectual Property Policy
• More information on:  Computer Crime Policy
• More information on:  SDNY's CHIPs Unit

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