Of the federal agencies that fight cybercrime or protect both private and public sectors from attack, the U.S. Secret Service is probably the least discussed. It is not well known that the agency’s purview includes safeguarding and investigating crimes against payment and financial systems in the U.S. That means Secret Service agents know the inner workings of many cyberattacks on retailers and financial companies as they unfold—and just what it takes to prevent them.

Legaltech News spoke with former Secret Service agent Steve Scarince, who recently became associate managing director in Kroll’s Cyber Risk practice, to discuss the ways companies can protect themselves in an era of rampant payment system attacks and the types of investigations he undertook during his public sector career. Here are highlights from the interview: