On the fourteenth anniversary of 9-11, H.R. 3490—the Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act—was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. On Monday, November 30, 2015, it passed with an overwhelming majority. The bill establishes the National Computer Forensics Institute (“NCFI”), to be operated by the U.S. Secret Service, to educate law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges on cybercrime investigation and prevention techniques. The NCFI provides programs and training on responding to network intrusions; maintaining electronic evidence, including processing and admitting digital evidence into the court record; and general discussions of trends in cybercrime. These programs cover a broad range of cybercrimes, including electronic fraud, theft of intellectual property and trade secrets, and even acts of terror.
Although H.R. 3490 formally establishes the NCFI, the Department of Homeland Security has been operating the institute informally since 2008. It has already trained more than 4,500 law enforcement officials in 1,500 organizations.