SEC launches Cyber & Emerging Tech unit

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission created a Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit in February 2025 to pursue fraud tied to artificial intelligence, blockchain and cyberattacks. (sec.gov) The agency said the unit replaced its Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit and would work with roughly 30 fraud specialists and attorneys across multiple Securities and Exchange Commission offices. Laura D’Allaird was named to lead it. (sec.gov) The new unit’s brief includes securities fraud involving artificial intelligence and machine learning, social media and dark web scams, hacking to obtain material nonpublic information, account takeovers, and failures by regulated firms to follow cybersecurity rules. The Securities and Exchange Commission listed blockchain-related fraud among the targets as well. (sec.gov) The agency set up a separate Crypto Task Force in January 2025 under then-Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda, with Commissioner Hester Peirce leading work on how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets. The Securities and Exchange Commission says that task force focuses on policy and clarity, while the new unit sits inside enforcement. (sec.gov 1) (sec.gov 2) That split shows how the regulator is handling two tracks at once: writing a clearer playbook for crypto while keeping a dedicated team for fraud, hacking and market abuse tied to new technology. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement page now groups cyber, crypto assets and emerging technology work in one section. (sec.gov 1) (sec.gov 2) The unit’s launch has already been folded into the agency’s public accounting of priorities. In its fiscal year 2025 enforcement results, released April 8, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission said the February 2025 launch was meant to complement the Crypto Task Force and protect investors in securities transactions involving blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, account takeovers and cybersecurity. (sec.gov) Those same fiscal year 2025 results show the broader enforcement backdrop: the agency filed 456 enforcement actions and obtained orders for $17.9 billion in monetary relief. The Securities and Exchange Commission said those cases included offering frauds, market manipulation, insider trading and disclosure violations. (sec.gov) The Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit is not writing new law on its own. It is an enforcement team, which means its job is to investigate possible violations and bring civil cases or administrative proceedings under existing securities rules. (sec.gov 1) (sec.gov 2) The practical effect is that artificial intelligence pitches, token offerings, hacked brokerage accounts and cyber disclosure failures now sit under a named unit with a published mandate and a rostered chief. After a year of crypto policy reorganization, the Securities and Exchange Commission has made its technology enforcement structure easier to see. (sec.gov) (sec.gov)