Demian Ahn is a member of the firm’s data, privacy, and cybersecurity practice based in Washington, D.C. He leads the firm’s incident response practice and advises companies on compliance, regulatory, and crisis management matters relating to emerging technologies of all kinds.

Incident Response and Crisis Management. Demian advises companies in connection with cyber, privacy, AI, and online safety incidents, as well as insider threat events and allegations by purported whistleblowers and others. He leads incident response and crisis management teams, manages internal investigations, and advises companies on external communications and disclosures. During his federal career, Demian led investigations and supported incident response relating to data breaches at U.S. government agencies and led complex criminal investigations responding to crisis situations involving terrorism, cybercrime, and violent crime. At Wilson Sonsini, Demian leads incident response teams responding to cyber incidents and crisis management matters relating to AI, health, financial services, online platform, cloud computing and SaaS, defense, and security companies.

Internal Investigations and Regulatory Defense. Demian represents clients in connection with cybersecurity, privacy, and AI-related investigations by federal and state regulators, including the Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, Department of Defense, and state attorneys general, as well as state financial regulators such as the New York Department of Financial Services. Demian also has extensive experience conducting, supporting, and leading sensitive internal investigations on a broad range of matters, including insider threat investigations, whistleblower claims, misappropriation of intellectual property, employee misconduct, alleged securities and financial fraud, health care fraud, and matters pertaining to the False Claims Act.

Cyber and AI Governance and Compliance. Demian advises clients on legal and regulatory compliance related to technology-driven products and services. He helps companies of all sizes navigate complex privacy, security, and AI-related regulations and requirements, including HIPAA, GLBA, NYDFS, PADFAA, the Take it Down Act, and the REPORT Act; government contracting regulations, including CMMC, DFARS, FedRAMP, CJIS; and laws and regulations pertaining to web scraping, data access, child safety, illegal content, and content moderation. Demian also advises companies on compliance as they explore IPOs and M&A transactions, and in connection with SEC reporting and corporate governance matters.

National Security, Surveillance, and Computer Intrusion Laws. As a Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Prosecutor and National Security-Cyber Specialist, Demian gained extensive experience working with threat intelligence and security experts across the federal government and private industry. He conducted corporate investigations involving security researchers and cybersecurity-related export control violations, including a precedent-setting investigation into former U.S. intelligence officials who provided services to a foreign government. Now, in private practice, Demian advises surveillance and security companies on legal and regulatory compliance, including with respect to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Wiretap Act, U.S. sanctions and money laundering laws, security research on the dark web, and the Department of Justice’s Data Security Program.

Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Demian worked at a prominent multinational law firm, where he represented clients in high-stakes litigation and investigations, including matters before Congress, federal and state regulatory bodies, and federal and state trial and appellate courts.

Immediately following law school, Demian clerked for the Honorable Frederick J. Martone of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. During law school, he also served as a law clerk for the South African Human Rights Commission in Durban, South Africa.