Florida's New Cyber Bureau Ramps Up Coordination Across State

During the recent Sunshine Cyber Conference hosted by Cyber Florida in Tampa, David Crain, a senior crime intelligence analyst supervisor from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), shared an overview of the department’s recently created Cyber Bureau’s mission, functions and services.

The bureau was created in March 2023, absorbing the Florida Intelligence Center’s Cyber Intelligence Squad and the Cybercrime Office, according to FDLE’s website.

Crain currently supervises the FDLE Cybercrime Office within the Cyber Bureau, which works with the Florida Digital Service to respond to network intrusion events that impact state and local government.

By working together and sharing information with local, state and federal partners, the Cybercrime Office generates cyber-related intelligence, manages the Secure Florida initiative and provides intelligence, investigative and forensic analysis support to FDLE’s headquarters sections and seven regional cyber squads.

As for the Cyber Bureau’s overall mission, Crain said, “We assist state, regional and local technical investigations, investigate complex cyber crimes, protect tech and telecommunication systems that support criminal investigations and disseminate information to the public.”

Crain said his office specifically assists with criminal investigations when government agencies are hit with any malware, intrusion or ransomware. The bureau also assists agencies with security reporting requirements, which are due yearly, and threat identification, which includes finding risk indicators.

Meanwhile, for the private sector, Crain said, “We do conduct criminal investigations when they are hit and provide identification, mitigation and information sharing awareness training; the issue with the private-sector component is collaboration and not always getting feedback.”

More information about FDLE’s Cyber Bureau can be found online.