Microsoft and law enforcers to combat cyber crime

Stan Beer
Thursday, 31 March 2005 02:30

IT Industry - Development

Microsoft Australia has joined with the Australian High Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC) to train Australian law enforcement agencies in the fight against cyber crime.

A three day Forensic Computing and Computer Investigations Workshop being run by the AHTCC from the AFP College in Canberra will be held from 30 March to 1 April.

Conducted by local and international Microsoft security experts, the FBI and a number of other specialists in cyber crime, the workshop will address cyber crime threats that affect Australian business, government agencies and citizens and is part of the ongoing collaborative partnership between Microsoft and law enforcement agencies around the world.

Last year, Microsoft trained more than 200 Australian law enforcement officials on a broad range of issues relating to cyber crime, including forensic work, tracking down online paedophiles, information sharing procedures and communication protocols.

This week’s workshop is the first time that law enforcement agencies in Australia will receive technical engineering training from Microsoft to specifically handle and track illegal phishing scams and botNETS.

High-tech crimes can be roughly divided into two categories: crimes committed with or against computers or communication systems; and traditional crimes which are largely facilitated by technology, such as fraud, illicit drug trafficking, child sexual exploitation, terrorism and money laundering.

According to Greg Stone, national technology officer, Microsoft Australia, “Cyber criminals have advanced from fairly simple virus writing to more clever attacks, sometimes using more than one attack mechanism.

“These range from elaborate phishing scams, which use phoney Web sites to steal credit-card numbers and perpetrate identity theft; fraudulent spam that launches viruses or spyware; and malware such as Trojans, which enable criminals to take remote control over thousands of computers for massive, distributed attacks.

“Another shift is in the motive of the typical cyber criminal. A few years ago, perpetrators who launched viruses did so mainly for fame or notoriety. Now online fraud and malware attacks are much more oriented toward financial goals, and increasingly appear to involve organised crime,” he said.

Kevin Zuccato, Director of the AHTCC said, “Because cyber criminals are not limited by geographic borders, cyber crimes are becoming an increasingly serious threat to computer users everywhere."

The AHTCC is a national policing capability formed through collaboration between all Australian State, Territory and Federal police services. The AHTCC is the main Australian law enforcement unit involved in the investigation of electronic attack against the National Information Infrastructure (NII). The NII comprises the information networks of essential national services such as telecommunications, banking and finance, transport and distribution, energy and utilities, information services and others such as defence and emergency management.