Enhancing information sharing practices is a function of twenty-first century policing efforts and a new study published by the Southern Criminal Justice Association is worth a read for its examination of information sharing tools used in Southern California. The journal articles focuses on the distribution of information regarding sex offenders and their follow-on interaction with law enforcement from agencies across San Diego County. This is important to the LECC community as more empirical research strengthens the ability to measure outcomes of information sharing practices.
Category: Cyber Crime Investigations
Pokémon Go: A Law Enforcement Alert
by the National White Collar Crime Center
Click here to read or download the full advisory.
What is Pokémon Go?
Pokémon Go is an Augmented Reality (AR) game that lets players attempt to capture small cartoon-style characters (“pocket monsters”, or Pokémon), using the real world as an interactive game board. The game is a result of a partnership between Nintendo,
Cyber Disruption Response Guide
By National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO)
State government must now view cyber attacks that are more than cyber incidents. We must prepare for larger magnitude events. These can be termed cyber disruptions, disasters or even catastrophes. This publication includes the following:
- A call to action for states to develop state cyber disruption response plans that include: a governance structure that clearly designates who is in charge in a given event or phase of an event;
Emerging Threats: End-to-End Encryption (E2EE)
Law enforcement officers today are faced with many new applications that that allow users to communicate or store information privately. As consumers become more concerned with privacy and security, the use of these applications continues to rise. And they aren’t just for criminals or spooks – secure messaging apps have gained widespread popularity among the general populace.
The novelty of these apps is that rather than encrypting only part of a conversation,
The Difficulties of Litigating Cyber Crime
The past several decades brought many new challenges to law enforcement, particularly due to the emergence of new technology. One such issue is cyber crime, which has been a challenge for law enforcement in both establishing laws against the activity, as well as providing tools for law enforcement officers to combat cyber crime. This article will review some difficulties for law enforcement officers at the state and local level in litigating cyber crimes affecting businesses and private citizens.
Attorney General Kamala Harris to Help Law Enforcement in Investigations of Criminal Invasions of Sexual Privacy
By: Danielle Citron, Lois K. Macht Research Professor of Law, University of Maryland
California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris has created a first-of-its-kind online resource designed to assist law enforcement in understanding and investigating crimes related to the cyber exploitation of a person’s nude images in violation of privacy and without consent (also known as nonconsensual pornography). Before discussing the resources created by AG Harris’s Task Force, let me first briefly explain the destruction caused by nonconsensual pornography,
The Harm in Password Reuse
By: Center for Internet Security
The Center for Internet Security (CIS) recently published their monthly Cyber Tips newsletter, The Harm in Password Reuse.
Below is the content provided in the newsletter published by CIS:
From the Desk of Desk of Thomas F. Duffy, Chair
Every day malicious cyber actors compromise websites and post lists of usernames, email addresses, and passwords online.
Online Hijacking
It used to be that hijacking was something only done in person, but as we discuss in this blog post, online hijacking—where someone or some service takes over an individual’s online account—is now a growing occurrence. Not all forms of online hijacking are “criminal”; for example, browser hijacking— when your Internet search function is diverted to websites you never intended to visit or when advertisements are misleading and redirect you from the main website—may be a nuisance,
Identification Through Anonymized Data
Much of the data individuals provide is assumed to be protected because it is anonymized—stripped of any information that identifies who those individuals are. Such anonymized data is everywhere. But how safe is the underlying assumption that individuals can’t be reidentified through such data? Unfortunately, as we discuss in this blog post, there is repeated evidence that this underlying assumption is not holding up—something that raises real concerns that people can be victimized through information they release that can be traced back to them and that makes this an emerging law enforcement issue.
Catphishing
You may have heard of the terms “phishing” or even “spearphishing”—they both refer to attempts by bad actors to gain personal information to pilfer bank accounts or damage reputation. Phishing is a broader term for wide-reaching untargeted solicitations, whereas spearphishing concerns attempts to target a particular population set like veterans, the elderly, or employees of a particular company for example.
This type of targeting will be familiar with law enforcement, but what you may not know is that early hacking routines were known as “phone phreaking” and the word usage stuck.
