Prosecutor in L.A. Gets Key Post in Justice Dept.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Chris Painter, who has prosecuted a number of high-profile hacking cases in Los Angeles, has been named to a top computer crime-fighting post with the Justice Department in Washington.

Painter, 42, was recently named deputy chief of the Justice Department’s computer crime and intellectual property section, one of the fastest-growing areas of the department.

As an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles for eight years, Painter played a leading role in the prosecution of notorious hacker Kevin Mitnick, who was recently released after spending nearly five years in prison.

Painter also handled last year’s prosecution of a former PairGain Technologies Inc. employee who pleaded guilty to trying to manipulate the company’s stock price by posting phony news releases on the Internet.

Painter will leave his post in Los Angeles this week.

In his new position, Painter will help coordinate computer crime prosecutions around the country and be in position to influence new high-tech crime legislation, as well as cultivate relationships with law enforcement in other countries.

He said computer crime has become a top priority for the department in recent years, fueled by the economy’s growing dependence on the Internet as well as high-profile cases, such as the recent attacks on Yahoo and others, that have called attention to the Net’s vulnerabilities.

Computer crime “used to be more of a niche area,” he said. “Five years ago, my [caseload] was mixed with traditional financial and investment fraud. But for the past year and a half, my entire caseload has been computer cases.”

Painter’s departure comes just months after another top computer crime prosecutor in Los Angeles, David Schindler, left the department for a job with an area law firm. Painter said Assistant U.S. Atty. Manuel Abascal is part of a new team of computer crime prosecutors being assembled in Los Angeles.