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 Ashcrofts
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 Attorneys
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 Attorneys 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
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