To catch high-tech thieves

State proposes expansion of crime center

By TONY BRIDGES
Tallahassee Democrat

For more information on this story, see:
http://www.learnthenet.com/ -- Learn to surf the Web on this Internet tutorial site.
www.techtv.com/cybercrime -- Read about all kinds of cyber crime on the TechTV e-zine.
www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/index.html -- Learn to protect yourself and report computer crimes at the Department of Justice Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section site.
http://www.ifccfbi.gov/ -- Internet Fraud Complaint Center.
http://www.chatminder.com/ -- Download software to tell you what your children are visiting on the Web.
http://www.attrition.org/ -- See what hackers are up to at this site that advertises what Web pages they've vandalized.

Crime in the cyberworld is spreading like a virus and Florida Department of Law Enforcement computer cops say they're looking for a way to pull the plug.

"Computer crime is to the 2000s what crack cocaine was to the mid-80s," said FDLE commissioner Tim Moore. "Unfortunately, with all the good (computers) bring, they create all kinds of ways for crooks and hooligans to victimize the populace."

FDLE is preparing for this new era of virtual crime with a proposed $1.6 million expansion of its Tallahassee-based Florida Computer Crimes Center, dubbed FC3. The revamped computer unit, beefed up with four new cybercops, will launch a four-prong attack of major investigations, statewide training for law enforcement, high-tech research and crime prevention campaigns. It will also tackle legislative issues to come up with appropriate penalties and close loopholes for technothugs, said FC3 head Bob Breeden.

$10B lost from computer crimes

The cybercops will have plenty of work to do -- and maybe too much, according to one expert.

A report released in August by the government's National Institute of Justice estimated that financial losses from computer crimes run nearly $10 billion a year in the U.S. Another government study released last year showed at least 30 percent of American companies surveyed reported computer intrusions by hackers.

In the last year, hackers have shut down major Web sites, including CNN and eBay, and pro-Napster hackers have launched several recent attacks against military and other government sites. A hacker Web site -- www.attrition.org -- lists almost daily defacements of business and government sites around the world.

But, it's Internet fraud that's the No. 1 computer crime of today, said Cecil Greek, an associate professor of criminology at Florida State University.

"(It's) so easy to do because of the anonymity that the Internet gives," he said.

On the Internet Fraud Complaint Center Web site, Internet auction fraud accounts for almost half of the more than 15,000 complaints taken since May. Many of the others were cases of credit card scams and identity theft. The total cost of the fraud reported: an estimated $10.5 million.

'Impacts every single one of us'

In Florida, Breeden says computer crimes include everything from hacking to child porn to massive fraud.

"This impacts every single one of us," he said. "Ten years ago, who even had a computer at home? Now, look at how many people are counted on the Internet today."

Just in Tallahassee this year, police have investigated reports of con artists ripping off users of the Internet auction site eBay; counterfeiters using home computers to print bogus $20 bills; stalkers harassing victims by e-mail; and crooks downloading phony driver's licenses from the Internet.

One of the main jobs of the beefed-up FC3: tracking down hackers and assessing security for the more than 20 state computer systems in Florida, Breeden said.

"If we're going to entice businesses to come to Florida, we have to have a strong infrastructure defense system," he said.

Another priority job will be training for cops. The problem with virtual crime is that law enforcement is ill-prepared to deal with it, Breeden says.

"There is very little expertise throughout the law enforcement realm to deal with these crimes," Breeden said. "We recognize that there's a severe need for training in the criminal justice system in Florida."

More than 300 school resource officers recently attended an FDLE course in Jacksonville. Within six months, FC3 -- soon to have 10 investigators and computer experts in Tallahassee and 14 more throughout the state -- hopes to be able to offer that kind of training regularly, Breeden said.

With the education campaigns will come an attempt to change and create legislation concerning computer crimes, Breeden said.

During the next session, FDLE will lobby the Legislature to give the agency jurisdiction over all computer crimes involving state property; create funding for security assessments of state computer systems; require Internet service providers to keep records of the electronic addresses customers are assigned when they log on; and, make electronic harassment easier to prosecute under stalking laws.

The FC3 work is a start, but Greek, the FSU professor, says it will be some time before anyone has a grasp on cybercrime.

"It is the crime problem of the future, and as of yet, there are no solutions," he said. "It's an international problem and it's going to take a global solution."