On February 20, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the creation of the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU), which will focus on combatting cyber-related misconduct and protecting retail investors from bad actors in the emerging technologies space.
The CETU, which includes approximately 30 fraud specialists and attorneys across multiple SEC offices, replaces the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit. It will be led by the SEC’s Laura D’Allaird, the former Co-Chief of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit.
The unit will utilize the SEC’s fintech and cyber-related experience to combat misconduct as it relates to securities transactions in the following priority areas:
- Fraud committed using emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Use of social media, the dark web, or false websites to perpetrate fraud
- Hacking to obtain material nonpublic information
- Takeovers of retail brokerage accounts
- Fraud involving blockchain technology and crypto assets
- Regulated entities’ compliance with cybersecurity rules and regulations, and
- Public issuer fraudulent disclosure relating to cybersecurity.
According to Acting Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda, the new unit will complement the work of the Crypto Task Force, led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, which we previously discussed in this blog post.
The SEC’s press release announcing the formation of the CETU can be found here.