Enforcement

 I saw the below article on CNN this morning while I was bored at work, and felt like I needed to share some thoughts about it. As cybercrime evolves and grows, law-enforcement continues to make corresponding adjustments to fight it. Although the Secret Service may have prevented 1 billion in cyber crime fraud last year, the estimated cost annual cost of cybercrime is about 400 billion (CNN). Needless to say, we have a long way to go before we get a handle on it. Ed Lowery is a special agent with the US Secret Service, who acknowledges that there has been a marked increase in the level of sophistication in both the nature and accomplishment of cybercrimes.

 Cyber criminals are no longer the lone hacker looking to make a quick buck, now they are organized cartels and governments targeting the US and other countries. According to Lowery, the US is an especially appealing target for infiltration. Adding to the problem is the fact that they often operate from locations were enforcement is particularly difficult, which may be due to lack of cooperation and geographic tensions.   These regions make ideal stopping grounds for cyber criminals.

 Even when policing is possible, there is still the critical elements of detecting and hunting these criminals. Lowery believes that the skill sets of law-enforcement must mirror (or exceed) those possessed by the cyber criminals. In addition to cyber skills, law-enforcement also needs to have investigative skills, which is not a common combination. Both take years to develop and they don’t often occur simultaneously.

 In my opinion, the biggest problem facing cyber security is not the skill set of the investigators, or even the laws in place. The larger issue is enforcement, and the ability  to police in regions with little or no cooperation. This is going to be the greatest hurdle in the feeding an annual fraud bill of 400 billion.

Lake, M. (2014). Police vs Cartels In The High-Tech Battle To Stop Cybercrime.  Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/30/tech/web/police-vs-cartelscybercrime/inde.html.