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The U.S. Secret Service announced on January 26, 2024, that it had reestablished its Cyber Investigations Advisory Board (CIAB). The board’s stated purpose is to bring outside expertise on cybersecurity and cybercrime to the agency and advise its investigative mission. It is advisory, not an investigative unit. The available public records cited here do not establish whether it has met or remains active since that announcement.
What is the Cyber Investigations Advisory Board?
The CIAB is a federal advisory committee established by the U.S. Secret Service to provide outside perspectives on emerging cybersecurity and cybercrime issues. The agency described it as a way to engage experts from industry, the public sector, academia, and nonprofit organizations and to obtain strategic advice for its investigative mission.
In its January 2024 Federal Register notice, the Secret Service said the board’s goal was to provide the agency with insights on those issues and “to provide outside strategic direction for the USSS investigative mission.” The notice also connected the effort to preventing and disrupting criminal use of cyberspace, a goal associated with Pillar 3, Goal 4 of the 2018 DHS Cybersecurity Strategy and identified by the DHS Secretary in 2021.
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What does the board do—and what does it not do?
Its role is to advise
The board is intended to help the Secret Service consider developments in cybersecurity and cybercrime and receive strategic input from people outside the agency. Its remit relates to the agency’s investigative work, including protecting U.S. financial and payment systems from financial and computer-enabled fraud.
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It is not an operational investigative team
The 2024 notice describes an advisory body; it does not say the CIAB investigates crimes, directs cases, or carries out law-enforcement operations. Those functions should not be confused with the board’s role in offering expertise and advice.
What is the board’s history?
| Date | What the public record says |
|---|---|
| September 9–10, 2020 | The Secret Service’s FY2020 annual report records the launch of the Cyber Investigations Advisory Board. |
| October 14, 2020 | LexisNexis Risk Solutions described the newly formed board as having 16 members and said it would provide the Secret Service Office of Investigations with outside strategic input on cybercrime, financial crime, technology, and investigative techniques. That is a historical company announcement, not a current roster. |
| January 26, 2024 | The Secret Service announced in the Federal Register that it had reestablished the CIAB as a federal advisory committee. The notice said it was not a solicitation for membership. |
| January 2025 | A Senate committee letter listing DHS advisory committees included the CIAB and cited 6 U.S.C. §451 as its authority. The inventory does not establish that the board met or was operating. |
Is the CIAB active now?
The 2024 notice confirms that the Secret Service announced the board’s reestablishment on January 26 of that year. The later Senate committee inventory confirms that it was listed among DHS advisory committees in January 2025, but does not document meetings, membership, or operational activity. The records cited here therefore do not verify whether the board has met, retained members, or remains active after the notice.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why does the board relate to the Secret Service’s mission?
The Secret Service’s investigative remit includes protecting financial and payment systems from financial and computer-enabled fraud. Cybercrime and technology developments can affect that work, which is why the agency said it wanted advice from experts across industry, government, academia, and nonprofits. The 2024 notice also states that the Secret Service has investigated and prevented financial crimes since its creation in 1865; that historical date is the agency’s own statement in the notice.
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