Cyber & IP Western Hemisphere

Background

The U.S. Transnational and High-Tech Crime Global Law Enforcement Network (GLEN) program is the result of a partnership between the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (DOS/INL) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (DOJ/CCIPS) and Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (DOJ/OPDAT).

The GLEN is a worldwide law enforcement network of International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (ICHIP) attorney advisors, computer forensic analysts (Global Cyber Forensics Advisors or GCFAs), and federal law enforcement agents who provide technical assistance to foreign law enforcement, prosecutorial, and judicial partners to combat intellectual property and cybercrime activity, as well as to assist in the collection and use of electronic evidence to combat all types of crime, including transnational organized crime (TOC).

Currently, ICHIPs are posted to regional positions in Africa (Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Asia (Hong Kong S.A.R.; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and IPR-focused part-time support from DOJ/OIA Attaché in Bangkok, Thailand), Europe (Bucharest, Romania; Zagreb, Croatia; and The Hague, Netherlands), and Western Hemisphere (São Paulo, Brazil and Panama City, Panama.  Two subject-matter expert ICHIPs—the ICHIP for Global Internet Fraud and Public Health (IFPH) and the ICHIP for Global Dark Web and Cryptocurrency (DWC)—as well as DOJ computer forensic analysts and law enforcement officials with intellectual property and cybercrime expertise, also form part of the GLEN.

The objective of the GLEN is to protect Americans from criminal threats emanating from abroad by delivering targeted technical assistance to encourage both immediate improvements as well as long-term institutional change.  This assistance includes workshops, legislative review, skills development and promoting institutional reform, such as the formation of specialized units to address these criminal threats.  Finally, the ICHIPs encourage countries to join the Council of Europe’s Convention against Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) as well as the G7 24-7 High Tech Crimes Digital Evidence Sharing Network (HTCN), an informal network that provides high-tech expert contacts to assist in preserving and sharing digital evidence.

IPR-Focused ICHIP

The São Paulo-based ICHIP assesses the ability of partner countries throughout the Western Hemisphere to enforce IPR; developing and delivering technical assistance to enforce IPR; assisting in developing or strengthening institutions dedicated to IPR enforcement; monitoring regional trends in IPR protection; and providing expert assistance in support of U.S. intellectual property (IP) in the region.  The IPR ICHIP assists foreign partners with legislative drafting and preparing country submissions for the U.S. Trade Representative’s annual Special 301 Report.  Finally, the ICHIP acts as a liaison between U.S. law enforcement partners in the region and rights-holders, whose support is critical for IPR investigations and prosecutions.

The ICHIP program has sparked similar commitment and efforts from authorities to seize counterfeit hard goods and enforce their own IPR criminal laws.  In São Paulo, the ICHIP program has developed an innovative public-private interagency group of U.S. rights-holders and municipal and federal officials.  Over the past several years, the group has seized over 4,187 tons of counterfeit goods with an estimated value of at least $522 million and criminally prosecuted individuals for facilitating slave labor and / or distributing counterfeit goods. The ICHIP program supports a whole-of-government approach by promoting inter-agency national and regional working groups focused on IPR enforcement.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICHIP program helped foreign partners combat cyber-enabled COVID-related fraud and shifted attention to e-commerce platforms used to sell counterfeit goods.  These endeavors led to numerous seizures of counterfeit and potentially unprotective personal protective equipment throughout the region despite limited resources and personnel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cyber-Focused ICHIP

The Panama City-based ICHIP covers the Western Hemisphere region, providing technical assistance to prosecutors, police, cyber forensic analysts, and judges to investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate complex cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime.  This work promotes the creation of networks for cooperation among relevant criminal justice actors in the region.  The ICHIP also assists foreign counterparts in drafting and implementing institutional and legislative reforms that will facilitate the successful investigation and prosecution of such crime.  Additionally, the ICHIP shares best practices with law enforcement officials and regulators throughout the region on investigating emerging threats such as the sale of illicit goods and services on the dark web.  Finally, the ICHIP raises awareness of international tools for combating cybercrime collaboratively.  ICHIP technical assistance buoyed Brazilian law enforcement officials’ efforts to seek accession to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime.  The Council of Europe formally invited Brazil to join the Convention in 2019, and Brazil formally acceded in December 2022.

IPR-Focused ICHIP Recent Activities

• December 2024: The ICHIP supported an intellectual property crime workshop for Mercosur countries hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Brazil's National Council for Combating Piracy and Crimes Against Intellectual Property (CNCP). Law enforcement officials from Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil, as well as private industry representatives, attended the workshop, which focused on collaboration in the creation of institutionalized mechanisms for exchanging information and data on intellectual property crimes.
• November 2024: The ICHIP was a keynote speaker at the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Province of Buenos Aires (MPBA) 2024 Continuing Education Program “Cybercrime, Technological Innovation, and Digital Investigation.”
• October 2024: ICHIPs São Paulo and IFPH conducted the third meeting of the Western Hemisphere Digital Piracy Working Group (DPWG) in Bogota, Colombia. Working Group Members received technical assistance on best practices in cyber and digital piracy investigations, digital evidence collection and chain of custody issues, and digital evidence authentication.
• October 2024: An ICHIP-trained IP Unit of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the National Police of Peru conducted a raid on more than 307 stores selling counterfeit clothing items, seizing at least 80 tons of counterfeit products.
• September 2024: ICHIP-mentored officials in Brazil coordinated with private industry and local law enforcement partners in Argentina, the United Kingdom, Peru, and Paraguay to launch the 7^th phase of Operation 404. The operation resulted in the blocking of more than 675 websites and 14 applications. In Argentina, an ICHIP-mentored official coordinated the dismantling of 70 illegal streaming websites and the seizure of dozens of IPTV boxes.

Cyber-Focused ICHIP Recent Activities

• November 2024: The ICHIP and an FBI Forensic Analyst mentored prosecutors and investigators from Colombia’s federal prosecutor’s Financial Crimes Section on a largescale cryptocurrency laundering investigation. During the multiday engagement, the ICHIP and FBI analyst provided advice and demonstrations on a range of subjects to help advance the investigation. The Colombian investigators prepared a memorandum of the lessons learned to use as a guide for future investigations.
• November 2024: The ICHIP conducted an advanced cybercrime investigations workshop in Panama City, Panama for 36 Panamanian prosecutors and investigators from different units that focus on cyber and cyber-enabled crime.   
  
• September 2024: In partnership with the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP), the ICHIP conducted a cybercrime legislation workshop in Nassau, The Bahamas, for 15 law enforcement, cybersecurity, and legislative officials from The Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago.      
• August 2024: the ICHIP and ICHIP Staff Attorney hosted a cryptocurrency program for 32 Mexican prosecutors and law enforcement officials. The program focused on strengthening the investigative skills of the participants with respect to cryptocurrency, specifically addressing the growing use of digital assets to launder funds from the sale of synthetic opioids.