FBI agent describes front line of war on cybercrime

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http://www.theadvocate.com/news/story.asp?StoryID=13394

By JOE GYAN JR.
New Orleans bureau

HARAHAN -- An FBI agent who leads a computer crimes squad in New
Orleans said Thursday that, with the global Internet population
currently at 245 million users and expected to hit 375 million by
years end, the amount of "e-crime" will rise as well.

"The problem with the Internet is only going to get worse," Special
Agent Will Hatcher, who heads the FBIs National Infrastructure
Protection/Computer Intrusion Squad, told law-enforcement officials
from metro New Orleans.

Hatcher, who said more than a third (135.7 million) of the World Wide
Webs users are found in the United States, recounted a number of
e-crime cases investigated by the FBI, including that of Carlos "Smak"
Salgado Jr. of San Francisco.

Before Salgado was arrested in May 1997, Hatcher said, he used the
Internet to steal 80,000 credit-card numbers with roughly $1.36
billion worth of available credit. The projected fraud to four major
credit-card companies was more than $150 million, he said.

Hatcher also discussed a 19-year-old Swedish man known as "Demon
Phreaker" who temporarily obstructed 11 Florida 911 systems in 1996 by
using a laptop computer to manipulate local telephone switches and
make fake emergency calls. He was captured by a joint effort of the
FBI, MCI and BellSouth, Hatcher said. The man was arrested and
convicted by Swedish authorities at the request of the U.S. Justice
Department, he said.

Metairie lawyer Stephen Sabludowsky, who specializes in computer and
Internet law, also spoke to the law-enforcement representatives at
Thursdays seminar, and after listening to what he called Hatchers
"horror stories," he had this assessment.

"Its just absolutely frightening," he said.

Sabludowsky said neither the state nor the federal government has the
resources to combat what he termed "cybercrime." Hatcher used the term
"e-crime."

"There are no ghost busters out there," Sabludowsky said. "That really
causes a problem."

Sabludowsky, who teaches Internet law to lawyers around the state,
said the worldwide computer web has created a "new environment."

"Obviously, the Internet and computers -- its a new generation," he
said. "Its a real challenge in the legal profession."

Sabludowsky said a recent report released to the California Senate
found that more than $6.5 billion is lost annually in California to
high-tech crime.

"Thats half the Louisiana budget," he said.

Sabludowsky said cybercrime also is causing problems for the
judiciary. In March, he said, a California appeals court said a
California law that outlaws the knowing transmission over the Internet
of material deemed harmful to minors as part of an attempt to seduce
them does not violate free speech rights.

But in January, the California Superior Court said a different
California law that makes it illegal to knowingly transmit sexual
material to a minor via the Internet is unconstitutionally overbroad
in violation of the First Amendment.

Hatchers and Sabludowskys remarks were sponsored by University College
at Tulanes Professional Development Institute. The seminar was held at
the Harahan-based institute.

Hatcher said company computer system attacks come almost equally from
insiders/contractors and outsiders.

"Its as much employees and former employees and contractors as it is
rogue hackers," he said, adding that with insiders "its almost
impossible to protect yourself."

Hatcher said the "elite" hackers are basically "hermits" such as
Salgado, who had a computer science degree and hacked for about 10
years before he was caught thanks to an informant/fellow hacker.

Then there are "recreational hackers," mostly high school students who
commit e-crime offenses for the thrill and the challenge, he said.

"They do it just because they can," Hatcher said. "Theyre curious.
Generally they dont do a lot of damage. Sometimes they do; sometimes
they dont."

Hatcher also said organized crime, or the mob, has realized "the
potential of the Internet."

Hatcher had these tips for victims of e-crime: respond quickly; ask
the phone company to conduct a trap and trace on the affected phone or
computer lines; do not use e-mail because it may be compromised;
determine the cost of the attack (such as lost business and legal
expenses); and do not contact the suspect.

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