Seal of the United States Department of Justice

The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) is a section of the

Criminal Division In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

of the U.S. Department of Justice in charge of investigating

computer crime A cybercrime is a crime that involves a computer or a computer network.Moore, R. (2005) "Cyber crime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime," Cleveland, Mississippi: Anderson Publishing. The computer may have been used in committing t ...

( hacking,

viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room ...

, worms) and

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

crime. They are additionally responsible for prosecuting privacy invasions by criminals such as hackers, cyberstalkers, and purveyors of mobile

spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is software with malicious behaviour that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user—for example, by violating their privac ...

, and specializing in the search and seizure of digital evidence in computers and on networks. CCIPS has been responsibleDepartment of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, Monday, October 31, 2016, Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section Celebrates 20 Years, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/criminal-division-s-computer-crime-and-intellectual-property-section-celebrates-20-years for: * the prosecution of infamous hackers such as Albert Gonzalez,Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, Friday March 26, 2010, Leader of Hacking Ring Sentenced for Massive Identity Thefts from Payment Processor and U.S. Retail Networks, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-hacking-ring-sentenced-massive-identity-thefts-payment-processor-and-us-retail who led a hacking ring that stole over 40 million debit and credit card numbers by infiltrating major payment processor and retail networks across the country, * the multi-nation effort that disrupted the " Gameover ZeuS"

Botnet A botnet is a group of Internet-connected devices, each of which runs one or more bots. Botnets can be used to perform Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, steal data, send spam, and allow the attacker to access the device and its co ...

and "

CryptoLocker The CryptoLocker ransomware attack was a cyberattack using the ''CryptoLocker'' ransomware that occurred from 5 September 2013 to late May 2014. The attack utilized a trojan that targeted computers running Microsoft Windows, and was believed t ...

" Ransomware scheme that was connected to the indictment of the alleged Russian cybercriminal

Evgeniy Bogachev GameOverZeus is a peer-to-peer botnet based on components from the earlier ZeuS trojan. The malware was created by Russian hacker Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev. It is believed to have been spread through use of the Cutwail botnet. Unlike its pr ...

,Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, Monday June 2, 2014, U.S. Leads Multi-National Action Against “Gameover Zeus” Botnet and “Cryptolocker” Ransomware, Charges Botnet Administrator, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-leads-multi-national-action-against-gameover-zeus-botnet-and-cryptolocker-ransomware * obtaining a conviction that was handed down by a

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

jury in the case of Christopher Rad, who organized an international securities fraud ring and stock manipulation through Botnets, * the indictment of Kim Dotcom, who operated Megaupload.com, a website that enabled large scale online copyright infringement and digital piracy,Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, Thursday, January 19, 2012, Justice Department Charges Leaders of Megaupload with Widespread Online Copyright Infringement, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-charges-leaders-megaupload-widespread-online-copyright-infringement * and working with various U.S. Attorney's Offices across the nation as well as a number of international partners to prosecute " Darknet market" websites hosted by the Tor network.Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/more-400-onion-addresses-including-dozens-dark-market-sites-targeted-part-global-enforcement

References

Federal law enforcement agencies of the United States United States intellectual property law Computer law organizations United States Department of Justice agencies {{Computer-security-stub