We are building our lives around our wired and wireless networks. The question is, are we ready to work together to defend them?
The FBI certainly is. We lead the national effort to investigate high-tech crimes, including cyber-based terrorism, espionage, computer intrusions, and major cyber fraud. To stay in front of current and emerging trends, we gather and share information and intelligence with public and private sector partners worldwide.
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/cyber/cyber
Computer Intrusions
Bots. Worms. Viruses. Spyware. Malware. Hacking.
Every day, criminals are invading countless homes and offices across the nation—not by breaking down windows and doors, but by breaking into laptops, personal computers, and wireless devices via hacks and bits of malicious code.
The collective impact is staggering. Billions of dollars are lost every year repairing systems hit by such attacks. Some take down vital systems, disrupting and sometimes disabling the work of hospitals, banks, and 9-1-1 services around the country.
Who is behind such attacks? It runs the gamut—from computer geeks looking for bragging rights…to businesses trying to gain an upper hand in the marketplace by hacking competitor websites, from rings of criminals wanting to steal your personal information and sell it on black markets…to spies and terrorists looking to rob our nation of vital information or launch cyber strikes.
Today, these computer intrusion cases—counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal—are the paramount priorities of our cyber program because of their potential relationship to national security.
Combating the threat. In recent years, we’ve built a whole new set of technological and investigative capabilities and partnerships—so we’re as comfortable chasing outlaws in cyberspace as we are down back alleys and across continents. That includes:
・ A Cyber Division at FBI Headquarters “to address cyber crime in a coordinated and cohesive manner”;
・ Specially trained cyber squads at FBI headquarters and in each of our 56 field offices, staffed with “agents and analysts who protect against investigate computer intrusions, theft of intellectual property and personal information, child pornography and exploitation, and online fraud”;
・ New Cyber Action Teams that “travel around the world on a moment’s notice to assist in computer intrusion cases” and that “gather vital intelligence that helps us identify the cyber crimes that are most dangerous to our national security and to our economy;”
・ Our 93 Computer Crimes Task Forces nationwide that “combine state-of-the-art technology and the resources of our federal, state, and local counterparts”;
・ A growing partnership with other federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and others—which share similar concerns and resolve in combating cyber crime.
Help us catch suspects wanted in computer intrusion cases: Visit our Featured Fugitives—Cyber Crimes webpage to use the power of the web against the very criminals who seek to exploit it.
Identity Theft
A stolen identity is a powerful cloak of anonymity for criminals and terrorists…and a danger to national security and private citizens alike.
For the FBI, identity theft is nothing new. We’ve been dealing with criminals faking IDs for decades, from check forgers to fugitives on the run. But the threat is more pervasive and the scams more sophisticated than ever, including new online elements.
We use both our criminal and cyber resources—along with our intelligence capabilities—to identify and stop crime groups in their early stages and to root out the many types of perpetrators, which span our investigative priorities. We also tap into our investigative partnerships with federal, state, and local law enforcement (including dedicated task forces in major cities) as well as our information-sharing partnerships with every sector of business, government, and education. And we reach out with information and education to make sure identity theft doesn’t happen to you.
As the primary investigative agency of the federal government for more than a hundred years, the responsibilities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have kept pace with ever-emerging threats and crime trends affecting the United States. From the notorious gangsters of the early 20th century, to espionage and sabotage during World War II, through the Cold War years and the global war on terrorism, the FBI has protected our nation. The 21st century brings with it entirely new challenges, in which criminal and national security threats strike from afar through computer networks, with potentially devastating consequences. While the FBI must adapt to meet these challenges, addressing the broad range of threats to the nation’s cybersecurity is squarely within its mandate. Why the FBI?
It’s our job.