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Cybercrime Enforcement

Overview

Crowell & Moring’s Cybercrime Enforcement team has significant experience executing proactive strategies to address cybercrime, intellectual property theft and fraud, global enforcement of legal rights, mitigation of legal risk, and deterrence of adversaries. 

In today’s business, the digital domain is pervasive, encompassing intellectual property, sensitive and high-value data, and critical human interactions. Cybersecurity and technical risks follow, which present challenges to detect, assess, mitigate, attribute and deter.

As security becomes more sophisticated, so do cybercriminals. Cybercrime has emerged as a key issue for all companies and their leadership. It has been estimated that cybercrime cost the global economy $8.4 trillion in 2022.

To address the challenges and threats, we have created a team that helps clients proactively manage their cybercrime enforcement efforts.  For example, we have established proven models for dismantling malicious technical infrastructure through a combination of civil enforcement, extra-judicial technical means, and global collaboration with government and private sector partners.  We have also carried out some of the most high profile and high-value enforcement actions to recover for trade secret misappropriation and business wrongs. 

Crowell & Moring’s Cybercrime Enforcement team has deep operational experience investigating complex incidents and reaching attribution of malicious cyber actors, parties engaged in intellectual property misappropriation and other insider or external threats engaged in fraudulent activities or theft.  We locate their front doors and assets. We collect, recover, and mitigate the injury and build robust law enforcement referrals.  Working with our clients, we aim for prompt and demonstrable disruption and deterrence of harmful conduct in digital domains. 

Areas we focus on include:

  • Hacking incidents and Internet-based misconduct
  • IP and asset theft
  • Critical competitive situations
  • Industrial espionage and complex fraud
  • Counterfeiting, piracy and gray-market activity related to content, devices, and products
  • Online abuse including advertising fraud, spam, phishing, malware, defamation and other forms of misconduct

This experience, coupled with our crisis management background and coordinated approach, enables us to work with clients in developing the best strategy to manage and resolve problems with minimum disruption and impact to their business.

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Insights

Firm News | 7 min read | 12.03.24

Crowell & Moring Represents Microsoft, LF Projects, Seize Illicit Websites and Combat Cybercrime

Washington — Dec. 3, 2024: Crowell & Moring represented Microsoft and LF Projects in seizing 240 fraudulent websites linked to an Egypt-based criminal organization. On November 21, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia unsealed a temporary restraining order against Abanoub Nady (known online as “MRxC0DER”) and John Doe Defendants (collectively the “Fake ONNX Defendants”), who developed, sold, and implemented “do it yourself” phishing kits under the predominant brand names “ONNX” and “Caffeine,” among several others. In selling these kits under the ONNX name, the cybercriminals misappropriated and misused the “ONNX” trademark, which is owned by LF Projects. LF Projects uses the ONNX name and logo in connection with the Open Neural Network Exchange, a platform that enables interoperability between AI models throughout the tech industry. Numerous cybercriminal and online threat actors purchased these kits and used them in widespread phishing campaigns to bypass additional security measures and break into Microsoft customer accounts....

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Representative Matters

  • Identified and successfully pursued participants in an international criminal organization responsible for an enormous volume of fake pharmaceutical and adult spam email.
  • Identified and pursued defendant that used internet means to misappropriate and convey confidential technical material in a trade secret and corporate espionage matter.
  • Prosecuted action against parties fraudulently manipulating email spam filters and carrying out illegal automated creation of email accounts and spam email activity.
  • Successfully implemented enforcement program to disrupt distribution of pirated software through offshore file-sharing sites and peer-to-peer networks.
  • Investigated and pursued credit card fraud ring abusing online gaming platform.
  • Investigated and initiated international civil litigation and law enforcement referrals against an “advance fee fraud ring.”
  • Investigated and pursued perpetrators of an online and telephonic “customer support” scam.
  • Prosecuted action against website publisher and internet traffic provider in a novel internet case related to “click fraud” and related fraudulent online advertising practices.
  • Investigated and pursued party engaged in fraudulent manipulation of search engine promotional program.
  • Investigated and advised regarding various malware and adware programs.

Contact

See All Professionals

Insights

Firm News | 7 min read | 12.03.24

Crowell & Moring Represents Microsoft, LF Projects, Seize Illicit Websites and Combat Cybercrime

Washington — Dec. 3, 2024: Crowell & Moring represented Microsoft and LF Projects in seizing 240 fraudulent websites linked to an Egypt-based criminal organization. On November 21, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia unsealed a temporary restraining order against Abanoub Nady (known online as “MRxC0DER”) and John Doe Defendants (collectively the “Fake ONNX Defendants”), who developed, sold, and implemented “do it yourself” phishing kits under the predominant brand names “ONNX” and “Caffeine,” among several others. In selling these kits under the ONNX name, the cybercriminals misappropriated and misused the “ONNX” trademark, which is owned by LF Projects. LF Projects uses the ONNX name and logo in connection with the Open Neural Network Exchange, a platform that enables interoperability between AI models throughout the tech industry. Numerous cybercriminal and online threat actors purchased these kits and used them in widespread phishing campaigns to bypass additional security measures and break into Microsoft customer accounts....

View All Insights

Professionals

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Insights

Firm News | 7 min read | 12.03.24

Crowell & Moring Represents Microsoft, LF Projects, Seize Illicit Websites and Combat Cybercrime

Washington — Dec. 3, 2024: Crowell & Moring represented Microsoft and LF Projects in seizing 240 fraudulent websites linked to an Egypt-based criminal organization. On November 21, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia unsealed a temporary restraining order against Abanoub Nady (known online as “MRxC0DER”) and John Doe Defendants (collectively the “Fake ONNX Defendants”), who developed, sold, and implemented “do it yourself” phishing kits under the predominant brand names “ONNX” and “Caffeine,” among several others. In selling these kits under the ONNX name, the cybercriminals misappropriated and misused the “ONNX” trademark, which is owned by LF Projects. LF Projects uses the ONNX name and logo in connection with the Open Neural Network Exchange, a platform that enables interoperability between AI models throughout the tech industry. Numerous cybercriminal and online threat actors purchased these kits and used them in widespread phishing campaigns to bypass additional security measures and break into Microsoft customer accounts....

View All Insights