Report: FBI doesn’t warn hacking victims of their rights

LONDON – The U.S. Justice Department’s watchdog says Americans caught up in international cyberespionage campaigns are routinely being left in the dark by the FBI.

The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General said Monday that advisory letters typically sent by the FBI to victims of cybercrime were almost never issued in “national security cyber cases.”

The lapses identified by the inspector general echo a 2017 Associated Press report that found the FBI failed to warn targets of Russian hackers that their personal emails were under threat.

The FBI’s Office of Victim Assistance says out-of-date guidelines are among the obstacles to giving American hacking victims timely advice.

The FBI has promised to strengthen its procedures, saying it is “imperative that victims of cybercrime are informed of their rights.”