Group targeting cyber-criminals gets a new home

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-other/2004/feb/04/516294521.html

By Jace Radke 
February 04, 2004 
<jace () lasvegassun com>
LAS VEGAS SUN

The Nevada Cyber Crime Task Force has a new home in its hunt for
hackers and cyber criminals.

The new, larger "cyber-laboratory" is located in North Las Vegas near
the task force's old lab site that was housed in the Energy Department
complex at 232 Energy Way.

The group's new base of operations offers more space for forensic
laboratories, training and includes on-site evidence vaults, FBI
Special Agent Alan Peters said.

"We've been growing since we started in 1999, and the new lab allows
us to really bring all the agencies in under one umbrella," said
Peters, who added that the exact location of the lab is confidential.  
"Before we had only enough space for three or four chairs in areas of
the lab, but now we can fit 30 in the forensic sections."

The multi-agency task force got its first true base of operations in
December 2001, after the group was created by an act of the 1999
Legislature to investigate the growing number of computer-related
crimes.

Along with the FBI, the task force also includes Metro, North Las
Vegas and Henderson Police, the Nevada Department of Investigation,
Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Postal Service inspectors and the
attorney general's office.

The task force is charged with investigating and arresting those who
use computer technology to commit fraud, steal identities, invade
private records, conduct industrial espionage, engage in information
warfare or traffic in child pornography.

In addition to going after cyber criminals, the task force also works
to train law enforcement officers in stopping computer-related crimes,
said Tara Shepperson, executive director of the task force.

The task force uses special tools, such as Encase -- a computer
program that unlocks deleted and hidden files from computer hard
drives -- to find clues cyber criminals have left behind, Peters said.

The task force also has a facility in Reno at the Washoe County
sheriff's office to help combat the growing numbers of cyber crimes.

The Internet Fraud Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and
the National White Collar Crime Center, recorded 75,063 cyber crime
complaints in 2002, including auction fraud, credit card fraud, child
pornography and computer intrusions among other offenses. The number
of complaints rose from 49,957 in 2001.

Numbers of complaints in 2003 are not yet available through the
Internet Fraud Complaint Center.

Those wishing to report a cyber crime can contact the task force at
295-1818, or can file a complaint with the Internet Fraud Complaint
Center online (www.ifccfbi.gov).




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