Kellen Dwyer is co-leader of Alston & Bird’s National Security & Digital Crimes Team. He previously served in the Justice Department in cyber and national security roles. As an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, he prosecuted, through conviction and appeal, dozens of cases involving hacking, wiretapping, national security, intellectual property, fraud, and public corruption. He obtained a computer hacking indictment against Julian Assange and represented the United States at Assange’s extradition hearings in London. Kellen received the Attorney General’s Award for leading the trial and arguing the appeal of a Russian hacker for conspiracy to commit one of the largest data breaches in U.S. history.
As deputy assistant attorney general in the National Security Division, Kellen led the department’s national security and cybersecurity policy on issues such as encryption, cryptocurrency, ransomware, GDPR/Schrems II, breach notification, supply-chain security, and foreign election interference. He testified before Congress, represented the DOJ on the National Security Council, advised Cyber Command, approved sanctions, and helped coordinate a whole-of-government response to cyber incidents, including the SolarWinds breach. Kellen also oversaw the division’s appellate unit, which advised on sensitive investigations and litigated before the Supreme Court, the circuit courts, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review.
Kellen teaches cyber-crime at George Mason Law School. He clerked on the Ninth Circuit and the Southern District of New York.
