A new task force will bring together expertise from the National Security Division and the Bureau of Industry and Security to prevent US adversaries from obtaining advanced technology that could threaten the country’s national securty.
US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the creation of the group, dubbed the the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, during an appearance at London-based think tank Chatham House in which she repeatedly expressed concerns over China’s use of technology to surveil and “counter perceived threats abroad”.
She said the joint effort between the DOJ and the Department of Commerce aims “to target illicit actors, strengthen supply chains and protect critical technological assets from being acquired or used by nation-state adversaries”, according to a 16 February press release accompanying her speech.
“They want to acquire technology by any means possible — not only to fuel surveillance and repression at home and abroad, but to gain strategic dominance,” Monaco said.
The initiative will use export controls enforcement as part of a broader effort to prevent adversaries from using “advance technologies”, such as those in supercomputing, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing equipment, and biosciences, among others, for military or mass surveillance activities “that enable human rights abuses”, according to the press release.
It will be co-led by Matthew Olsen, the assistant attorney general for the National Security Division, and Matthew Axelrod, the assistant secretary for export enforcement, and include personnel from US attorneys’ offices in 12 cities, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security.
The task force will use “real-time intelligence and 21st century data analytics” to “strike back against adversaries trying to siphon off our most advanced technology,” Monaco said.
The strike force will foster partnerships in the private sector, according to the press release, and will also collaborate internationally to “coordinate law enforcement actions and disruption strategies”. It will also work with the US intelligence community.
