The Secret Service’s Cyber Investigations Advisory Board (CIAB) was created to give the agency outside advice on cybercrime and financial-crime investigations. It launched in September 2020, was reestablished in 2024, and was terminated by the Department of Homeland Security in 2025, according to the latest official status notice cited here. It should not be described as an active council without confirmation of a later action.
What was the Secret Service’s cybercrime council?
The Cyber Investigations Advisory Board was a federal advisory committee intended to advise the Secret Service’s Office of Investigations. Its subject matter included cybercrime and financial-crime trends, emerging technology, and investigative methods. The agency investigates crimes such as counterfeiting, payment-card skimming and other fraud; the board was meant to help it respond as criminal tactics and technology changed.
When the Secret Service reestablished the committee in 2024, it described the board as a way to obtain insight from industry, government, academia and nonprofit organizations, and as a principal channel for senior experts to advise the agency. The Federal Register notice said the committee was reestablished to help “prevent and disrupt criminal use of cyberspace.” Read the January 26, 2024 Federal Register notice.
When was the board created, and what is its latest known status?
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| January 22, 2020 | CyberScoop reported that the Secret Service had sent invitations to selected cybersecurity experts. The report said a first meeting was expected that summer and that the board was expected to meet twice a year; those were plans, not confirmation of the eventual schedule. |
| September 9–10, 2020 | The Secret Service’s FY2020 annual report records the launch of the Cyber Investigations Advisory Board. See the FY2020 annual report. |
| January 26, 2024 | A Federal Register notice said the Secret Service had reestablished the CIAB as a Federal Advisory Committee. |
| March 2025 | The Department of Homeland Security published a notice that the Secretary had determined the CIAB should be terminated, following Executive Order 14217. See the DHS termination notice. |
The 2025 notice is the latest official status record cited here. It does not establish whether a later revival or successor committee was created.
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Who was expected to serve on the committee?
CyberScoop’s January 2020 report described a planned 16-member committee, but did not publish a full roster. Jonah Hill, then a senior cyber policy advisor at the Secret Service and the board’s planned executive director, declined to name the other invitees. The number refers to the reported planned size, not a verified count of people who ultimately served.
The report said the invitees were expected to bring experience from law enforcement, former Secret Service leadership, computer science and network security, as well as expertise in malware, ransomware, business email compromise, identity theft, credit-card theft and criminal trends. Hill described the intended range of perspectives as spanning industry, academia, and state and local government. The report does not confirm which invitees became members.
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What issues was the board meant to advise on?
The board was intended to give investigators strategic input on transnational cybercrime and changing criminal techniques, including the overlap between state and criminal actors. It was also expected to discuss policy questions that could affect investigations, such as encryption, privacy rules and data-breach notification requirements.
Hill said the board was not intended to advocate for or against a particular encryption policy. Rather, he said, the agency wanted to be prepared for how debates and industry approaches might develop. That distinction matters: the committee was an advisory channel, not evidence that the Secret Service endorsed a specific encryption policy.
What the available record does not establish
- A complete list of the board’s members is not provided in the 2020 reporting.
- The sources do not confirm that the initially forecast twice-yearly meeting schedule was maintained.
- The 2025 DHS notice establishes termination, but the sources cited here do not document any later action or successor.
CyberScoop’s January 2020 account of the announcement is available at CyberScoop.
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