Press Release  AG Healey Hosts Eighth Annual National Conference on Cyber Crime

Boston — This week, Attorney General Maura Healey hosted the eighth annual National Cyber Crime Conference, the largest conference of its kind to help equip law enforcement officials and prosecutors with the tools and skills to effectively detect and defeat cyber crime in the 21^st century.

Nearly 800 law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and investigators from across the country attended the three-day conference. During her opening remarks to kick off the event on Monday, AG Healey spoke about the importance of guarding against cyber threats that endanger our financial systems, infrastructure, schools, and communities by developing new skills, sharing best practices, and forging new partnerships across agencies and industries.

“Each year, this conference brings together hundreds of law enforcement officials, prosecutors, cyber investigators, and forensic personnel to discuss the latest tools and techniques in cyber security,” said AG Healey. “This conference helps provide the skills and knowledge essential to law enforcement to address  evolving security threats. I am grateful to our many distinguished speakers, presenters, sponsors, and attendees who make this event the nation’s leading cyber crime conference each year.”

After AG Healey’s remarks, Juliette Kayyem, CEO of Grip Mobility, a technology company that provides transparency in the rideshare industry, and a former Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under President Obama, delivered the keynote address. As DHS Assistant Secretary, Kayyem played a pivotal role in major operations, including the handling of the H1N1 pandemic and the BP Oil Spill response and also organized major policy efforts in immigration reform and community resiliency. Prior to that role, she served as Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s homeland security advisor, guiding regional planning and overseeing the National Guard. 

“This conference provides an essential forum to share ideas and best practices on a range of cyber crimes and vulnerabilities,” said Juliette Kayyem. “These practitioners from around the country are at the frontlines of protecting the country, its infrastructure and our citizens and it was an honor to speak with them about how to build a more resilient nation.”

The conference featured five notable lunchtime speakers over the three days, including Professor Jonathan Zittrain of Harvard University, who spoke about the use of artificial intelligence tools in decision-making in the criminal justice system. Professor Zittrain is the George Bemis Professor of Internal Law at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Director of the Harvard Law School Library, and Faculty Director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.       

On Tuesday, Assistant United States Attorney Amy Harman Burkart and Detective Michael Maher spoke about cyberstalking, bomb threats and computer hacking using a case study involving the investigation and prosecution of a Massachusetts man who cyberstalked a young woman and former housemate. Burkart is the Chief of the Cybercrime Unit and an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office in Boston, and Detective Michael Maher is an investigator in the City of Waltham Police Department’s Detective Division. 

Today, Supervisory Special Agent Chris Oksala and Special Agent John T. Rabaut, both of the Drug Enforcement Administration, will speak about a case study describing the successful takedown and dismantling of AlphaBay, the largest darknet marketplace. 

The conference also featured a presentation from a Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School student who spoke about the many unseen threats facing schools today and calling attention to the need for funding, updated technology, and training to address digital security vulnerabilities in schools.

The conference was hosted by the AG’s Office in partnership with Cellebrite, the National Attorneys General Training & Research Institute, the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and SEARCH.

“Today’s criminal is more technologically savvy and advanced than ever before. And our law enforcement community is battling to make sense of the unprecedented volume of digital information from data sources like phones, cameras, and social networks,” said Derek Brown, General Manager, North America, Cellebrite. “We applaud Attorney General Healey for leading this important conversation about ways to combat cybercrime. Today’s conversation underscores the need to arm our law enforcement partners with the most advanced tools to fight this sophisticated criminal element.”

“Law enforcement officials and prosecutors are on the front lines in protecting citizens from cyber crime,” said Amy Tenney Curren, Director, National Attorneys General Training & Research Institute. “The information and best practices provided at the NCCC help the law enforcement community combat the constantly evolving nature of security risks.”

“NW3C applauds the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office for once again hosting one of the country’s leading cyber crime conferences,” said Glen Gainer, President and CEO of the NW3C. “It is a privilege to co-sponsor this important event, which provides a forum for collaboration between law enforcement, prosecutors, regulators, and the private sector to exchange ideas and discuss emerging cybercrime issues.”

“SEARCH Group Inc. is pleased to have the opportunity to co-sponsor the National Cyber Crime Conference for the eighth year in a row,” said David Roberts, SEARCH Executive Director. “This stellar conference presented by the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General provides critical, highly effective training to over 800 law enforcement prosecutors and allied professionals from across the globe. The team has done a brilliant job once again in assembling a world-class agenda filled with industry leaders from the tech world, as well as exceptional trainers from across the nation.”

Exhibitors participating in the conference include Ace Tech Partners, ADF Solutions Inc., Atola, Belkasoft LLC, Berla, Callyo, Cellebrite, Chainalysis, Digital Intelligence Inc., DME Forensics, Forensic Computers, Grayshift LLC, Hawk Analytics, Magnet Forensics, MCM Solutions, MSAB, NCFI, Ntrepid, NW3C, Opentext, Oxygen Forensics, Paraben Corporation, Passware Inc., Personable, Salient Sciences, SEARCH, Standard Modern Company, SUMURI LLC, Susteen, Teel Technologies, Truxton Forensics, and ZetX.

Attendees at this week’s conference represented 38 states, as well as Canada, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom. Law enforcement, prosecutors, and investigators attended from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Marshall Service, U.S. Coast Guard, Massachusetts State Police, Boston Police Department, and district attorney’s offices and police departments across the country.  

The conference consisted of nearly 192 breakout sessions of labs, lectures, and certification programs in which attendees were trained on a wide range of topics, including smartphone forensics, investigating and prosecuting terrorism at the state and local level, drones, investigating the link between mass shooters and the internet, using Google geofencing data in criminal investigations, and an overview of blockchain technology and virtual currency.

The AG’s Office has long made the prevention and prosecution of cyber crime a top priority. The Office has a state-of-the-art Digital Evidence Lab in Boston, which has statewide capacity to deal with cyber crime and more efficiently process the digital evidence that is present in virtually every investigation. Since 2008, the AG’s Office has provided cyber training for more than 20,000 state and local law enforcement personnel from across the Commonwealth and the nation. 

A list of participating agencies and police departments in this year’s conference include:

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