(Reuters) — The U.S. Justice Department said it plans on Tuesday to announce the first enforcement actions from a “strike force” of federal prosecutors formed in February, in part to keep sensitive technology out of countries such as Russia and China.
The department scheduled a press conference for 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) to make an announcement about the strike force’s work but did not provide details.
Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco, the department’s No. 2 official, said in February that the new group was a joint effort with the U.S. Commerce Department to protect U.S. technology from foreign adversaries and other national security threats. Monaco said at the time that the United States would “fight back against adversaries who seek to remove our most advanced technologies and attack tomorrow̵
7;s national security threats today.”The strike force includes 14 U.S. attorneys’ offices across the country working to target illegal actors, strengthen supply chains and protect sensitive technology from being acquired or used by foreign adversaries.
In a case that may be related to the strike force’s work, a criminal complaint was filed in Arizona on Friday against Oleg Patsulya and Vasilii Besedin, two Russian citizens residing in the United States, for allegedly conspiring to ship aircraft parts to Russian airlines in violation. of US export control laws.
The Justice Department has in recent years increased its focus on bringing criminal cases to protect corporate intellectual property, U.S. supply chains and private data about Americans from foreign adversaries, either through cyberattacks, theft or sanctions evasion.
The Commerce Department last year imposed new export controls on advanced computer and semiconductor components in a maneuver designed to prevent China from acquiring certain chips.
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