The Department of Justice (DoJ), citing the increased number of cybercrimes being tackled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has doubled its broad goal of FBI actions to combat cyberattacks in FY 2019, although FY 2018 statistics indicate that the FBI could end up handling a much heavier workload than that.
According to an update on the performance.gov website regarding the goal of combating cyber threats and attacks under the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) issued in March, DoJ has set a FY 2019 goal for the FBI to conduct 8,400 computer intrusion program deterrences, detections, disruptions, and dismantlements to fight cyberthreats and attacks. That figure is double the FY 2019 goal of 4,200.
That goal of 4,200 deterrences, detections, disruptions, and dismantlements of computer intrusion programs was, however, exceeded easily in 2018, and totaled 11,540. The agency exceeded its goal for each quarter of the 2018 fiscal year and saw gradual increases in total number of computer intrusion programs deterred, disrupted, detected and dismantled in each quarter throughout the fiscal year.
Deterrences and detections are the preventative measures for cyberattacks, while a disruption is interrupting or inhibiting a threat actor from engaging in criminal or national security-related activity, and a dismantlement is the destruction of the targeted organization’s leadership, financial base, and supply network.
The DoJ also favorably resolved 157 of 160 cyber-cases for a 98 percent resolution, exceeding the agency goal of 90 percent. Favorably resolved is defined in the action plan as “those defendants whose cases resulted in court judgments favorable to the government, such as convictions after trial or guilty pleas.” Unfavorable resolutions were not guilty verdicts.
