Before starting LaMagna and Associates in 2006, a Cybersecurity and Brand Protection consultancy based in Washington, D.C., Mr. LaMagna served as Director of Worldwide Anti-Counterfeiting Investigations at Microsoft Legal and Corporate Affairs. Because Asian organized crime groups based mainly in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau dominate international trafficking in counterfeit goods, Microsoft recruited Mr. LaMagna for his knowledge of the region gained through many years of study and experience as a federal law enforcement agent. At Microsoft, he was highly effective leading the global effort in identifying and dismantling Asian criminal organizations selling counterfeit software worth millions of dollars. As a Microsoft spokesperson, he testified twice before the U.S. Congress about transnational organized crime and counterfeiting and appeared in numerous TV, radio and print media reports. He has also testified in court on behalf of HP as an expert witness.

 

In 2003 when cybercrime and internet safety became one of the company’s top priorities, the Microsoft Legal Department appointed him Director of Worldwide Law Enforcement Training and Outreach on the Internet Safety Team (now known as the Digital Crimes Unit). In that role, Mr. LaMagna developed highly successful public-private partnerships with U.S. domestic and international law enforcement agencies, which included the FBI, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security, INTERPOL and others. He also implemented Microsoft’s Online Child Safety Strategy and developed the company’s relationships with the National and International Centers for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces, the DOJ and numerous NGOs and foreign law enforcement agencies. Mr. LaMagna also managed a highly successful Microsoft-sponsored international law enforcement training program conducted jointly with ICMEC and INTERPOL. Under his leadership the program, which was designed to develop computer-based investigative skills, trained over 3000 foreign officials in more than 30 different countries.

 

Mr. LaMagna’s recruitment by Microsoft in 1999 followed a distinguished 28-year U.S. federal law enforcement career with DEA that culminated as Chief of the Special Intelligence Division and Deputy Chief of Intelligence, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Headquarters. Before that, he served as Section Chief, FBI HQS, Drugs and Organized Crime Branch where he led the development and implementation of a comprehensive inter-agency crime assessment and strategy for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He also held the position of Director of Counter-narcotics at the White House, National Security Council, in 1989-90, where he helped to create the first comprehensive national drug strategy and served as an advisor to the National Security Advisor and the President. While assigned to the National Security Council, Mr. LaMagna participated in White House, and high-level US diplomatic delegations to Peru, China, Thailand, Burma, Pakistan, Turkey, Laos and other drug source countries, which drew upon his knowledge and expertise in international organized crime and drug trafficking. These special assignments were in addition to his earlier DEA postings as a Special Agent in New York, Philadelphia, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taipei, and Paris.

 

From 1990-91 Mr. LaMagna was Deputy Chief of Worldwide Heroin Investigations at DEA HQS; in 1991-95  DEA assigned him as the Chief of the DEA Office attached to the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong. In addition to maintaining strong cooperative relationships with Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan law enforcement agencies, Mr. LaMagna developed relationships with the national police of the People’s Republic of China and layed the groundwork for the opening of a DEA office in Beijing.

 

Throughout his professional career, Mr. LaMagna has held positions in both the public and private sector and has a strong record of leadership and team-building. As a cybercrime consultant, he has advised the world’s leading pharmaceutical and technology companies to address the online sale of counterfeit and diverted products and to address cybercrime and online fraud. He served as Online Trust and Safety Advisor and Spokesperson at eBay Trust and Safety to assist the company in preventing cybercrime and fraud. He was also a cybersecurity subject matter expert for two and one-half years with the Lafayette Group International, a government contractor in Vienna, Virginia; there he created and presented cybersecurity training materials on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security.  Recently, the National White-Collar Crime Center (NW3C) in Richmond, VA hired him to promote their cybercrime and financial investigations training to international government agencies and the private sector.

 

Mr. LaMagna has published several articles and papers in security-related fields and has been the subject of numerous media interviews. He has been a guest speaker at international security-related conferences, at the European Commission, the U.N., INTERPOL, Mexico, and China. Most recently he was invited to speak at cybersecurity conferences in Malaysia and South Africa. He has been the subject of numerous TV, radio, and print media interviews and profiles and has appeared on the U.S. CBS Television program, 60 Minutes, CNN Asia, CBS MarketWatch and the crime documentary series, American Gangster. He has been invited to lecture at the FBI Academy, CIA Headquarters and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG).  He is the former President of the FBI sponsored InfraGard Nations Capital Alliance, a member of ISACA, the Internet Society and the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS). He is a graduate of Gettysburg College (B.A) and Georgetown University (MALS) Washington, D.C.