* subscribe at http://techPolice.com The foes of cybercrime Conference helps police close gap with online criminals By Bob Sullivan MSNBC MASHANTUCKET, Conn., Jan. 22, 2001 Police in Boston had reached a dead end. They had a murder suspect, but not nearly enough evidence, and the investigation was growing cold. But a computer-trained ATF agent went undercover, and for once, used the Internet’s anonymity to law enforcement’s advantage. After all, if the good guys can do it, so can the bad guys. Welcome to the brave new world of cyber-policing. IF COMPUTER HACKERS can swap information in secret chat rooms and hold training conferences, so can computer cops. This week, over 400 computer-savvy law detectives, government agents and security industry professionals are gathering in Connecticut at “Cybercrime 2001” to swap stories about fighting crime using the Internet. Among the more telling was Sgt. John J. McLean’s story of undercover work performed by a clever ATF agent hunting down a murder suspect last year. Posing as a flirty, young woman, the ATF agent e-mailed the murder suspect and gained his confidence, said McLean, a Bedford, Mass. Investigator. Slowly, agent and suspect struck up a cyber-relationship. About four painstaking months later, the agent’s feminine persona managed to coax an admission out of the suspect, along with plenty of leads on additional evidence. The story highlights an important theme at the conference: computer-based police work is hardly limited to catching computer-based criminals. Using technology is just using your head. And most police readily admit the bad guys have a head starts in their use of computer hardware. “We have been saying since the 80s that you have to get out of the paradigm that your next detective has to have a 40-inch chest,” said Howard Schmidt, Microsoft’s Corporate Security Officer. A former FBI computer forensic specialist, Schmidt is also a board member on the National White Collar Crime Center. The Internet has already given criminals in some areas a big leg up. Kevin Delli-Colli, who heads the U.S. Customs Cybersmuggling Center, said e-commerce is a nemesis, an ideal distribution tool for illegal drug sellers. Worse yet, the Internet at first left Customs wondering whom to arrest. “We’ve always focused on the middleman, the smuggler, who brings the stuff into the country,” he said. “Now there is no middleman. ... They’re not driving up I-95 any more with their bumper dragging on the highway,” car trunks loaded down with drugs. Instead, thanks to the Net, consumers buy direct from overseas Web sites. And their goods are often unwittingly delivered by the world’s greatest distribution system — the U.S. Postal Service. Among the drugs that can be ordered over the Internet are prescription-only medications like Valium and steroids. But marijuana and other illegal drugs are also available. Delli-Colli pointed to one Web site selling marijuana seeds that openly brags about its ability to piggyback on postal deliveries. A message on the site reads: “Our orders tend to be hidden very well in our shipments, so if you receive something from our area of the world, and you don’t know what it is, DO NOT throw it out. Inspect it very carefully, and if you need help, give us an email to find out where we hid the eggs.” To counter the advantage criminals have using the Internet, police officers and corporations have to learn their own Net-savvy tricks, McLean said. He strongly advocates undercover work both by police detectives and corporate security officers — such as engaging potential criminals in chat rooms, building relationships and learning what criminals might have on their minds. “You’ve got assets to protect. You have a green light to do this,” he said. The police sergeant often combines old and new policing techniques. He relayed another story of uncovering a Boston-based hacking gang after arresting one member for possession of marijuana. “I used him to get information on all the hackers in the school,” he said. McLean was attracted to cyber-investigations by an increase in child pornography connected to the rise in Internet use. Most other cops at the conference said they had some experience with undercover work, pretending to be underage children in chat rooms, waiting to get “hit on” by pedophiles. A GROWING PROBLEM? There is evidence child pornography is still on the rise. Delli-Colli said the U.S. Customs service, which handles many child porn investigations as trade cases, arrested 320 child pornographers last year — about 100 more than in 1999. He also said a secret child porn site that was shut down last year after only four months of operations served up over 4 million images to about 200,000 different IP addresses. McLean is one of several full-time cyber-smart police investigators who occasionally teach computer classes to other cops for Internet Crimes Inc., the firm hosting Cybercrime 2001. Another theme of the conference: cooperation between law enforcement and corporate security professionals. Often, companies that suffer computer attacks don’t like turning to law enforcement because they are afraid of corporate embarrassment. Greg Larson, Internet Crimes vice president, said he hoped face-to-face meetings encouraged by the conference would make corporate investigators more likely to call their law enforcement counterparts. Schmidt cited the recent formation of a consortium of 19 big high-tech firms that promised to share news on security break-ins as an example worth imitating. “We’re going to put aside the competitive stuff and we’re going to work together to make sure we do security pro-actively,” he said. Among the companies represented at Cybercrime 2001 are America Online, Target Inc., and Hewlett-Packard. A wide range of government agencies are here, too — from state lottery agencies to the Nebraska state Department of Revenue. But not one was suggesting the pow-wow would help police catch up to the head start cyber-criminals have. “It’s not fool proof,” Schmidt said. “We’ve been trying to stop burglars and rapists for years and haven’t been able to do it. We’re not going to be able to completely stop cybercrime either.” --- Support our Sponsor ------------------------------------ Become a Fool: Get out of debt. Learn how to invest. Retire early. Take control of your finances. Register to become a Fool! It's FREE! Get investment freebies too. 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