[118446] in Cypherpunks
IP: Desperate Need for Cyberpolice?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert Hettinga)
Tue Sep 28 12:57:43 1999
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Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 12:27:29 -0400
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
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Reply-To: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
After the Poverty Crisis, the Energy Crisis, the Ecology Crisis, and
the almost-Healthcare Crisis, here comes some happy idiot declaring
an Internet Crisis.
Cheers,
RAH
--- begin forwarded text
From: "Dan S" <ds1999@subdimension.com>
To: "isml" <isml@onelist.com>
Subject: IP: Desperate Need for Cyberpolice?
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 10:01:53 -0400
Sender: owner-ignition-point@precision-d.com
Reply-To: "Dan S" <ds1999@subdimension.com>
>From http://www.apbnews.com/newscenter/oped/1999/09/27/oreilly0927_01.html
-
Our Desperate Need for Cyberpolice
Confronting Threats and Terrors of the New Age
Sept. 27, 1999
By Bill O'Reilly
Get ready for the cyberpolice. Within five years the Department of Justice
will have to form a law enforcement unit devoted solely to tracking down
cybercriminals of which there are more than a few.
We all know about the child porn criminals and the online auctions filled
with charlatans selling phony merchandise. But there are many other kinds of
crime that are now becoming common across the Internet, one of the most
frightening of which is cyber stalking. We need to protect individuals from
having their Internet connection turned into a tool of harassment and
terror.
There are cybercops now on some state and local police forces and the FBI
has a cyber unit. But what is needed is a full-time agency of federal
cybercops who have the resources to apprehend cybercriminals anywhere in the
country. In 1997, Attorney General Janet Reno met with police from other
countries and everyone agreed to develop high-tech solutions to combat
computer crime.
Let's hope they hurry up becuase what the justice system really needs is
strict federal regulations against cybercrimes that are new and innovative.
For example, thieves are breaking into computer systems and stealing ideas
from corporations and individuals. The theft of intellectual property is a
huge problem. Say you are writing a business plan or a song or a book on a
computer on your office network. A computer-savvy crook can lift it without
you even knowing a copy has been taken.
Cyber spying is also a growing problem for a national government that stores
and manages so many of its secrets as electronic computer files.
The federal government has been slow to make new laws to combat cybercrime
and the criminals are way out in front. There have been cases where hackers
have been able to download bank information and steal money. In St.
Petersburg, Russia, two criminals were able to transfer $10.5 million from
an American bank into their own personal accounts. Nobody knows for sure,
but cyber experts put bank deposits stolen by cybercriminals in the billions
of dollars. The average computer bank theft is $2 million according to the
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. The average take on a bank robbery
done by street thugs is $14,000.
See more crime news:
APBnews.com
Banks, phone companies hit
And banks aren't the only institutions are risk. AT&T and MCI were forced to
give 38,000 consumers refunds worth almost $3 million because cyber scam
artists hijacked their computer modems and used them to dial up overseas 900
numbers.
And that brings us to the international aspect of cybercrime. While on
assignment for the program Inside Edition, I tracked a kiddie porn ring to
Copenhagen, Denmark. We collared the person running the Web site and he
freely admitted sending his perverted material worldwide. He even talked
with us on camera about it. We then turned the tape over to the Danish
police and, surprise -- they told us it is not against the law to transmit
child pornography in Denmark. Nice. The way Russia is today, who knows what
penalty the culprits will face for stealing $10.5 million from an American
bank!
This cybercrime situation is going to get bad -- mark the words of this
column. You can do just about any illegal activity you want on the Net from
selling dope, to stealing merchandise, to intentionally harming someone.
We need a cohesive strategy
Interpol and the U.S. Department of Justice need to get together quickly and
map out a cohesive strategy, but I'm not optimistic. Janet Reno is so
ineffective she can't walk across a Washington, D.C., street without getting
heckled, and the FBI is dealing with massive problems on the Waco and
Chinese espionage fronts.
Which brings us overseas again. According to the CIA, the Chinese stole
bucket loads of nuclear secrets from us simply by convincing certain
scientists to put the stuff online. Of course our Justice Department is
shocked, just shocked, that this could happen without anybody knowing about
it. But then Reno did deny the FBI a wiretap on suspected scientist-spy Wen
Ho Lee's computer. Who says she's not involved enough with cybercrime?
Anyway, the Chinese have nuclear secrets, the Danes have kiddie porn, and
the Russians have many American dollars. What does America have? A chaotic
law enforcement situation regarding cybercrime that leaves our increasingly
wired nation and its individual citizens far too vulnerable.
Bill O'Reilly is the anchor of the Fox News Channel show The O'Reilly Factor
and the author of the crime novel Those Who Trespass.
--
Dan S
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--- end forwarded text
-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
