The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is getting serious on cybercrime with a dedicated unit that will focus on targeting “cyber-related misconduct” when it comes to finance laws.

Operating as a division of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, the “Cyber Unit” is tasked with monitoring a raft of bad behavior: market manipulation schemes, hacking to obtain nonpublic information, violations involving blockchain tech and initial coin offerings, financial misconduct on the shady part of the internet known as the dark web, intrusions into retail brokerage accounts, and cyber-related threats to trading platforms and other market infrastructure.

“Cyber-related threats and misconduct are among the greatest risks facing investors and the securities industry,” Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division said in a statement Monday. “The Cyber Unit will enhance our ability to detect and investigate cyber threats through increasing expertise in an area of critical national importance.”

In addition to the Cyber Unit, the SEC is also establishing the Retail Strategy Task Force, a group tasked with leveraging data analytics and technology to identify large-scale misconduct affecting retail investors.

The SEC’s decision to launch a dedicated Cyber Unit comes on the heels of all sorts of financial shenanigans being reported over the last year, ranging from the hack of Equifax Inc. and subsequent allegations that company directors trading shares in the company prior to publicly disclosing the hack; various ICO hacks; various dark web stories, including a report of insider trading running rampant; and perhaps the icing on the cake: the SEC itself getting hacked and the stolen data used for insider trading.

Although the SEC already has legal oversight into all those areas, any question as to the extent of its powers in regards to blockchain-related matters was clarified in July when the SEC said in a statement that ICOs are subject to regular securities law. This not only meant that the SEC has jurisdiction in monitoring them, but ICOs held in the U.S. also must go through the same legal process as would a traditional stock market float, including registration and disclosure compliance.

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