Justice Department to increase focus on cyber threat, economic espionage

The Justice Department is making strategic changes within its National Security Division to put additional focus on the protection of national assets from the threat of state-sponsored economic espionage and proliferation, including through cyberspace, it said.

John P. Carlin, assistant attorney general for national security, said Tuesday in a statement that among other changes, it has appointed a new principal deputy assistant attorney general, Mary B. McCord, who will oversee the work of the national Security Cyber Specialists Network, which consists of prosecutors in each of the U.S. Attorney's offices who focus on cyber threats to national security. Ms. McCord served most recently as the Justice Department's criminal division chief.

“The threat landscape we face is ever-changing and evolving, and while our top priority will always be combatting terrorism, we must also sharpen our focus and increase our attention on the emerging threats of economic espionage and proliferation,” said Mr. Carlin, in the statement. “These changes will help us continue confronting today's threats while readying the (National Security Division) workforce to engage what we see as the key emerging threats to our national security.”

In July, the Justice Department announced the indictment of five men who, it charged, conspired in a worldwide hacking and data breach scheme that targeted major corporate networks, stole more than 160 million credit card numbers and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.