Elizabeth Wharton

Send Lawyers, ‘Garchs, and Money

Allegations of oligarch elections meddling and influence is old news as we head into 2024. While prosecutors focus on the money trail in building threat intelligence based cases for indictment, don’t overlook oligarch-funded lawyers with creative delay and distract defense tactics. From twisting data privacy laws to using funds for Slapp libel cases to leaking legal discovery, we’ll dissect a series of US and UK cases where oligarchs are throwing lawyers and money as curveballs to thwart influence and cybercrime prosecutions. We’ll also look at ways to further leverage these cases as opportunities for closing policy gaps and for open source intelligence data gathering.

Elizabeth (Liz) leverages almost two decades of legal, public policy, and business experience to advise researchers and to build and scale cybersecurity and threat intelligence focused companies. In addition to having led operations at two adversary research focused startups, her recent prior experience includes serving as the Senior Assistant City Attorney on Atlanta’s ransomware incident immediate response team. Liz was recognized as the 2022 “Cybersecurity or Privacy Woman Law Professional of the Year” by the United Cybersecurity Alliance.