Steven Masada is a member of the Ransomware Task Force Steering Committee.

Steven Masada serves as Assistant General Counsel and leads Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit (DCU), a global team of lawyers, investigators, analysts and technical experts that lead Microsoft’s fight against cybercrime and online threats to protect customers and the broader digital ecosystem. Under his leadership, the DCU leverages Microsoft Threat Intelligence and security expertise to disrupt malicious actors and cyber threats through strategic partnerships, intelligence sharing, criminal referrals, and affirmative civil litigation targeting the tools and technical infrastructure of cybercriminals and nation-state threat actors.

Before assuming his current role, Steven was part of Microsoft’s Law Enforcement & National Security (LENS) team, where he advised on legal, policy, and regulatory matters related to government surveillance and lawful data access.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Steven spent over 12 years at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Washington (Seattle), where he investigated and prosecuted cybercrime and cyber-enabled fraud and ultimately headed the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s cybercrime and IP infringement team.  Earlier in his career, Steven served as a judicial law clerk on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Hon. Richard C. Tallman) and worked as a commercial litigator at a private law firm.