SEC launches Cyber & Emerging Tech Unit

The Securities and Exchange Commission has created a Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit inside its enforcement division, adding a new team focused on fraud tied to artificial intelligence, blockchain and cyber intrusions. (sec.gov) The agency announced the unit on February 20, 2025, and said it is led by Laura D’Allaird and staffed by about 30 fraud specialists and attorneys across multiple Securities and Exchange Commission offices. The new group replaced the older Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit. (sec.gov) The Securities and Exchange Commission said the unit will target misconduct involving securities transactions tied to blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, social media, hacking, account takeovers and failures by regulated firms to protect customer information. The agency’s enforcement page also lists market manipulation, fake websites and false online statements among the areas it covers. (sec.gov 1) (sec.gov 2) The move sits alongside the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force, which the agency says is working on how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets and what policy changes could govern that market. The task force has a public meetings log and a dedicated newsroom, signaling a separate policy track from enforcement. (sec.gov 1) (sec.gov 2) (sec.gov 3) That split showed up again in the agency’s April 7, 2026 enforcement report. The Securities and Exchange Commission said the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit was launched in February 2025 “to complement the work of the Crypto Task Force” while pursuing misconduct that harms investors. (sec.gov) The same report said the agency filed 456 enforcement actions in fiscal year 2025, including 303 standalone actions, and obtained orders for $17.9 billion in monetary relief. The Securities and Exchange Commission said those cases reflected a priority on conduct that directly harms investors and market integrity. (sec.gov) The agency has already been using the unit’s name in court filings and litigation releases. In a January 2026 case involving Morocoin Tech Corp. and related defendants, the Securities and Exchange Commission said investigators from the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit worked on the matter. (sec.gov) The unit also appeared in a January 2026 release tied to Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, where the Securities and Exchange Commission said Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit staff helped conduct the investigation. That shows the office is handling both new fraud allegations and long-running crypto-related cases. (sec.gov) The practical change is that the Securities and Exchange Commission now has one public workstream writing crypto policy and another bringing fraud cases tied to new technology. The agency’s own description is narrower than a blanket crypto crackdown: it points to retail investor protection, cyber misconduct and deceptive conduct in fast-moving markets. (sec.gov 1) (sec.gov 2)