Secret Service Combats Cybercrime.
The Secret Service was mandated by the USA Patriot Act to establish a
nationwide network of Electronic Crimes Task Forces, modeled after the
Secret Service's New York electronic crimes office. So far, eight have been
implemented.
The task forces mark a new direction for the Secret Service. That direction
involves a more inclusive approach to crime fighting that invites industry
and academia to join law enforcement in attacking cybercrime. The experts
on these task forces have already worked on some high-profile cases.
"Virtually every criminal investigation that we get involved in involves
the use of some kind of computer," said John Novak of the Secret Service.
So when Washington, DC, police searched for missing federal government
intern Chandra Levy, they employed one of the task forces to examine her
computer.
"The totality of looking at one's computer really gives you the ability to
get a psychological profile of what [a person] may have been engaged in,"
said Bryan Palma of the Secret Service.
And almost no one has more experience at looking at someone's computer than
agent Geoffrey Weidner. He says he always starts by looking at the hard drive.
"What I've done is removed the suspect hard drive, and what I'll do is set
it aside [and] continue to process the evidence," Weidner said. "When I'm
ready I'll take the hard drive again and hook it up to my forensics
computer. My forensics computer is set up so when I boot with this hard
drive attached, it will write-lock the hard drive so I can't alter the hard
drive."
To preserve the original evidence, he works from the copy.
The task forces actively seek the involvement of business as well, and the
Secret Service won some points by cracking a fraud case involving the
airlines' online ticketing.
"Not only did we bring down a criminal organization that exploited this
technology that was affecting the travel industry at the rate of millions
of dollars, but we were able also to illustrate to this same business
sector that this kind of activity can occur, and there's things that you
can do as preventative measures," said Secret Service special agent John
Frazzini.
This form of reaching out is a different approach for the Secret Service,
but it is key when dealing with cybercrimes.
"Law enforcement is at a significant disadvantage when it comes to
technology," Palma said. "You know everyone knows they're behind the curve.
They don't have the budget typically associated with the private sector, so
what we've done is reached out to local, state, and federal law enforcement
agencies and said, 'Look, come to our office, and we'll work together.'"
That office is loaded with forensics computers that can trace in detail the
online or off-line activities of any suspect unlucky enough to be ordered
to surrender their computer.
The Secret Service's fight against electronic crime is a work in progress,
and task force directors say they're looking for whatever help they can
get. The task forces are located in Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Miami, New
York, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Secret Service wants to hear from businesses with cybercrime problems
or solutions. To contact the Electronic Crimes Task Force, send an email to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Posted March 13, 2002
http://www.techtv.com/news/security/story/0,24195,3376038,00.html
