Nathan Kitchens, AUSA, Atlanta (Photo: John Disney/ALM) Nathan Kitchens, assistant U.S. attorney, Atlanta (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

Job Title: Deputy chief, Cyber & Intellectual Property Section.

Current primary practice area: Cybercrime and complex fraud prosecutions.

Experience:

  • 2012-present: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Georgia, 2012-present; Williams & Connolly, Washington, D.C., 2007-2012; law clerk for Judge Frank M. Hull, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2006-2007.

Education: Harvard Law School, 2006; Princeton University, 2002.

What drew you to a career in law? My dad is an attorney, so the law was appealing from an early age. I have childhood memories of peeking over Redwelds to watch parades from his office downtown, and my first job was stocking books in his firm's law library. My parents instilled in me a desire to serve others, and I explored journalism and politics with the aim of doing so. Unfortunately, I didn't have the stomach for tough reporting, and my speech writing jobs led only to political misfortune for the candidate. Those experiences led me to turn to service as a prosecutor, and I haven't looked back.

Have you set a specific goal that you want to achieve in the next year?

I am working with agency partners to expand our enforcement efforts in cryptocurrency and dark web prosecutions. The growth of cybercrime on the dark web poses a significant societal threat and a stark challenge for law enforcement, which has to overcome technology specifically designed to evade detection. Our office is becoming a national leader in disrupting cryptocurrency infrastructure by targeting major dark web vendors and services that launder virtual currency, and I am refocusing efforts with our law enforcement partners to combat the threat. We're planning initiatives to train law enforcement on investigative tools and techniques for dark web crime.

What has been your proudest career moment and your biggest hurdle?

The arrest of Gery Shalon, who was indicted as the mastermind of the 2013 ETrade and Scottrade data breaches, was the culmination of a two-year investigation in one of my first cyber cases. As part of the law enforcement team, I traveled to Israel to provide legal guidance for the arrest operation, which involved equal parts diplomacy and challenging constitutional analysis. I'll never forget waiting in an Israeli police station for early morning reports about the successful arrest. Our biggest hurdle remains a misunderstanding of law enforcement's role in safeguarding privacy, which hampers private sector information-sharing critical to investigating crimes and combating future threats.