NCJ Number
189111
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 49 Issue: 5 Dated: June 2001 Pages: 43-46
Date Published
June 2001
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The rash of Internet “Cybercrime” during the first half of 2000 raised some interesting issues for traditional police agencies.
Abstract
Recent estimates put worldwide Internet crime related losses at $1.6 trillion dollars annually. Although these attacks were carefully targeted at particular companies, without any apparent attempt to steal, damage or corrupt data, the apparent ease with which they were carried out had many Internet and company security experts worried. As in the cases of the “Distributed Denial of Service” (DDoS) attacks and the "Lovebug" virus attacks, the perpetrators were operating in one country, while most of the actual victims were in another country. Beyond the obvious jurisdiction and prosecution issues, the equipment and expertise required to successfully locate and prosecute the perpetrator is staggering. The FBI operates a computer crime squad that provides information and conducts investigations and prosecutions of computer crimes. Its National Infrastructure Protection Center also acts as a clearinghouse for information on cybercrime. As with large and complex frauds, cybercrime is probably best investigated by specialized companies and in-house experts hired by the victim companies themselves. Criminal prosecutions can then be coordinated by law enforcement agencies based on the information provided by these experts. Traditional law enforcement agencies can probably best serve their communities by adding cybercrime prevention to their lists of crime prevention information, and by making sure they don’t become victims themselves.