Computer Scientists in the FBI

11/08/2012

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Mollie Halpern: The FBI is hiring additional computer scientists to strengthen its abilities to combat the growing cyber threat from those who seek to attack us using the Internet.

Richard A. McFeely: We hope to have at least one computer scientist in every one of our field offices.

Halpern: I’m Mollie Halpern, and this is FBI, This Week. The FBI is working on a three-phased approach to hiring, recruiting, and training computer scientists as part of its Next Generation Cyber Initiative. Computer scientists will provide technical expertise to critical cyber investigations. FBI Executive Assistant Director Richard McFeely says the new hires will work side by side with special agents…

McFeely: The key part of any cyber investigation is determining who is conducting the attack and what is their motive? In order to get to that, we’ve got to do all of the necessary technical analysis to determine who is at the other end of the keyboard perpetrating these actions—and that is going to be the key role of the computer scientist.

Halpern: For more information, visit www.fbijobs.gov.

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FBI - National Cyber Security Awareness Month:

10/07/2011

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Mollie Halpern: The number of Americans using the Internet has grown from 16 million in 1995 to more than two billion this month. As the cyber environment continues to accelerate, so does the threat from cyber-based crime, terrorism, and espionage.
Gordon Snow: The threat that comes from cyber is just really prolific.
Halpern: I’m Mollie Halpern of the Bureau, and this is FBI, This Week. Cyber security is one of the FBI’s top priorities. The Bureau leads the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force, which includes members from 20 law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Cyber squads are also stationed in each of our 56 field offices across the United States. And agents are embedded in five police agencies around the world to assist with cyber investigations. Assistant Director Gordon Snow of the Cyber Division…
Snow: It just makes it a very powerful bond, and it allows this global threat to be attacked by a global partnership.
Halpern: This October, the FBI is observing National Cyber Security Awareness Month. To learn how to stay safe online, visit www.fbi.gov.

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FBI - Protecting our Children with Technology:

Protecting our Children
Technology, Partnerships Work Hand in Hand

10/03/11
Investigators dedicated to rescuing child victims of sexual abuse and arresting those who traffic in child pornography are often faced with the difficult and time-consuming task of analyzing hundreds of thousands of illicit images traded online.

For the eighth year in a row, October has been designated National Cyber Security Awareness Month. The goal: to reinforce the importance of protecting the cyber networks that are so much a part of our daily lives. The theme of the observance, which is sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, is “Our Shared Responsibility." Over the course of the month we will be posting additional stories and information about cyber crimes and security. Read more

That painstaking work is critical to identifying victims and their abusers, however, and members of our Digital Analysis and Research Center (DARC)—part of the FBI’s Innocent Images National Initiative—use a mix of sophisticated computer tools and domestic and international partnerships to get the job done.
DARC personnel, who analyze digital evidence in the most significant online child exploitation cases, are currently testing a software tool called the Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS). The CETS program—already in use in several locations around the world—is designed to streamline investigations and integrate with other CETS operations so that law enforcement agencies can enhance their cooperation and efficiently move their cases forward.
“CETS has tremendous potential for the FBI,” said Special Agent Barbara Cordero, a veteran cyber investigator who manages research, development, and training for the Innocent Images National Initiative. “Eventually, when everyone is plugged into CETS, it will allow law enforcement everywhere to share key information.”
“If I’m in a small police department in Iowa, I might not know that another department in Maryland is investigating the same subject I am investigating,” Cordero explained. “CETS will tell me that, along with other important information.”

The FBI established the Innocent Images National Initiative in 1995 to address the proliferation of child pornography and child exploitation facilitated by the Internet. A component of the Bureau’s cyber crimes program, the Innocent Images initiative takes a proactive, multi-agency, investigative approach that relies on strong domestic and international law enforcement partnerships.  The initiative prioritizes several investigative areas, including: - Online organizations and enterprises that exploit children for profit or personal gain; - Major distributors and producers of child pornography; - Individuals who travel—or are willing to travel—for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with a minor; and - Possessors of child pornography. Learn more

Essentially, CETS is a repository that can be filled with records pertaining to child pornography and child exploitation cases. The system can contain images, case information, identities of known offenders along with information about their Internet addresses, and other related material. The program can analyze millions of pornographic images, helping law enforcement personnel avoid duplication of effort. The program can also perform in-depth analyses, establishing links in cases that investigators might not have seen by themselves.
“CETS has the ability to put the same information in one place and make it available in a unified standard for everyone,” said Special Agent Charles Wilder, who heads DARC. “That’s important because the Internet has removed all geographic boundaries in these types of crimes.”
The CETS program was created by Microsoft at the request of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police National Child Exploitation Coordination Center—investigators there wanted a system designed specifically for child exploitation cases. The program is now being used in Canada and Australia—and Interpol, the international police organization, is working with several of its member countries to integrate CETS into its existing systems.
The ultimate goal is to expand the number of CETS users and to one day integrate all the operations so investigators can share information in a truly global way. “Right now,” Cordero said, “the immediate benefit for the FBI is that CETS saves us a tremendous amount of time in the image review process. Bad guys who trade pornographic images have massive collections,” she said. “We regularly seize hundreds of thousands of images. CETS makes the review process extremely efficient.”
She added, “The FBI has terrific partnerships with cyber investigators in the U.S. and around the world. As we move forward, CETS will allow us to strengthen those partnerships by sharing more and more critical information. This type of technology is a model for the future.”
Resources:
- Innocent Images National Initiative
- National Cyber Security Awareness Month