DoJ still working on guardrails for Rule 41 malware takedowns

DoJ still working on guardrails for Rule 41 malware takedowns

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers, speaks during a virtual news conference at the Department of Justice on October 28, 2020 in Washington, D.C. Demers said at a recent George Washington University event that malware takedowns, liked the one used with Microsoft Exchange Servers, would not be a “a tool of first resort.” (Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

At a meeting with reporters hosted by George Washington University, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said that the Department of Justice is actually establishing guidelines for malware takedowns, and that such action would not be a “a tool of first resort.”


Demers’ comments specifically refer to the decision made recently to forcibly remove web shells from “hundreds” of infected Microsoft Exchange servers. While widely endorsed as an appropriate move, those actions spurred questions among the cybersecurity community about when and how often the DoJ would step in.


“Now that we’ve had this experience, that’s the kind of discussion that we’re having now internally,” he said, stressing that it would not be “a tool of first resort that we’re going to be using many ti ..

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