Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Sarah Saldaña unveiled a major expansion of the ICE Cyber Crimes Center (C3) on Wednesday.
Located in Fairfax, Va., the expanded center is planned to provide ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with enhanced operational and training capabilities to meet the growing cyber mission on the agency, DHS said in a statement.
“The men and women of Homeland Security Investigations perform critical work in combating criminals that use the computer as their weapon, perpetrating crimes ranging from child exploitation to the theft of intellectual property. The development of this expanded Cyber Crimes Center provides this great workforce with the facility and tools they deserve to accomplish their mission,” Mayorkas said at the unveiling.
C3 was created by the U.S. Customs Service in 1997 in response to technology on criminal trends. Despite significant changes since its founding, little renovation has been done to update the office space, the department said.
The expansion includes the build-out of a 5,000 square-foot forensic laboratory, space for coordinating large cyber operations, an evidence vault and multiple training and conference rooms.
C3 classes on cyber smuggling, undercover and network intrusion investigations will take place at the new expanded center in early 2016. The agency is already using the new space to provide training on advanced software applications for victim identification in support of child sexual exploitation investigations, the statement said.
The current mission of C3 involves keeping pace with emerging computer technology and Internet processes, proactively using the technologies to combat criminal activity and address vulnerabilities created by the Internet, disseminating investigative leads and intelligence to field offices and international law enforcement partners, and supporting field investigations, DHS said.
Saldaña said ICE’s cybercrime strategy focuses on network intrusion, online theft of intellectual property and export controlled data, cyber economic crimes like the sale and conversion of stolen credit card data or personally identifiable information and illicit underground marketplaces.
C3 provides computer and cyber-based technical services in support of HIS cases.