Overview
Scott leverages his extensive experience as a former federal cybercrime prosecutor and in senior leadership at the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to advise clients across industries on the full range of privacy and security issues created by global data collection and usage. This includes responding to cyber incidents and managing complex privacy and cyber risk assessments. Scott often defends clients in regulatory investigations from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), State Attorneys General and other federal, state and local regulators and criminal authorities.
Scott has managed numerous cybersecurity incidents, including sophisticated nation-state attacks, ransomware attacks, business email compromises and credential harvesting schemes. In these incidents, Scott has led the response team; overseen the forensic investigation, containment, and remediation efforts; engaged with regulators; coordinated strategic communications and law enforcement outreach; and managed US and international consumer notices.
Scott’s deep experience in incident response and regulatory enforcement informs his broader counseling practice, where he regularly provides risk mitigation strategies, conducts gap analyses, develops global privacy compliance programs and formulates and advances government advocacy strategies for data privacy and security-related issues.
During his more than ten years with DOJ, Scott served in leadership roles, including as an Associate Deputy Attorney General, where he advised the Deputy Attorney General and Attorney General on a range of significant matters, with special emphasis on cyber and national security. Scott was the DOJ lead on White House and interagency policy groups addressing cyber incident response, cyber legislation, public/private partnerships, election integrity and nation-state cyber threats. Scott also served as Counsel for Cyber Investigations in DOJ’s National Security Division (NSD), where he advised federal prosecutors, law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community on cyber matters affecting national security and foreign relations. For six years, Scott was an Assistant US Attorney in Atlanta, where he served as the office’s Computer Hacking/Intellectual Property Coordinator, tried numerous jury trials and briefed and argued multiple cases before the US Circuit Court of Appeals.
While at DOJ, Scott investigated and prosecuted a wide array of criminal and national security cases, including involving international cyber threats, economic espionage, the illegal export of military and strategic commodities, fraud, public corruption and money laundering.
Scott previously served as an Assistant District Attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Results
- Represented Fortune 100 global technology company in extensive PII and PHI theft by an employee who attempted to monetize the stolen data*
- Represented multiple companies in inquiries by the California Attorney General’s Office regarding alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act*
- Conducted top-down, enterprise-wide risk assessment for multinational technology company, developing a first-in-class data privacy and security compliance program*
- Represented Fortune 500 logistics company in its response to a data breach targeting US operations and requiring notice to individuals in all 50 states and over 20 US regulators*
- Represented global IT services provider in its response to a ransomware attack affecting EU operations*
- Represented Fortune 500 manufacturing company in its response to an enterprise-wide ransomware attack*
- Represented international logistics and transportation company in its response to an enterprise-wide ransomware attack resulting in notice to regulators in four countries and over 100,000 individuals around the world*
- Prepared executives of Fortune 100 technology company for Congressional hearings on data privacy and usage practices*
- Advised professional sports team on potential privacy issues stemming from the deployment of new technology at its stadium*
- Prosecuted the developer and major distributor of SpyEye, a prolific malware banking Trojan, which was used by a global syndicate of cybercriminals to infect over 50 million computers, causing close to $1 billion in financial harm to individuals and financial institutions around the globe*
- Conducted global investigation into multi-year, foreign state-sponsored hacking campaign targeting international anti-doping and sporting organizations, culminating in the indictment of multiple foreign intelligence officers*
*Matter handled prior to joining McDermott.
Recognitions
Community
- International Association of Privacy Professionals, member
Credentials
Education
The Ohio State University, JD, with honors
University of Michigan, BA, with honors
Admissions
District of Columbia
Georgia
New York
Ohio
Courts/Agencies
US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
US District Court for the Eastern District of New York
US District Court for the Southern District of New York
US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
US District Court for the District of Colorado
US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
