NCJ Number
193325
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 69 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2002 Pages: 52-54
Date Published
January 2002
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the assessment of the threat of electronic crime and suggests tools and techniques for responding to it; some successful law enforcement agency efforts to counter this problem are described.
Abstract
The increasing use of the Internet by businesses and consumers has created a fertile ground for those seeking to use it for criminal purposes. Financial losses due to Internet intrusions, theft of trade secrets, and other electronic crimes are increasing. One Federal effort to address this problem was the establishment in 1996 of the Infotech Training Working Group, now known as the National Cybercrime Training Partnership (NCTP), which is a high-technology training consortium led by the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice. The NCTP recently conducted a series of focus meetings that concluded program coordination, fast-track initiatives implementation, and skills training are the keys to fighting cybercrime. The meetings identified and discussed the following topics: education, data and reporting, uniform training and certification, onsite management assistance, updated laws at the Federal and State levels, cooperation with the high-tech industries, special research and publications, management awareness and support, investigative and forensic tools, and best practices for computer crime. This article also describes the video and Internet training products offered by the NCTP for use by law enforcement agencies. Some achievements in addressing cybercrime are described for the Marion Police Department (Indiana), the Metropolitan Police Department (Washington, D.C.), and the New York State Police Computer Crime Unit.