Cybercrime Investigation

Dedicated Cybercrime Investigation and Prosecution Units

Overview of Dedicated Cybercrime Investigation and Prosecution Units in relation to cyber crime: [1]Cybercrime and the need for specialized cybercrime investigation and prosecution units is becoming more important as reflected in the number of state, federal, and international laws prohibiting many types of harmful Internet-based activities. The importance of cybercrime, and therefore the need for more dedicated cybercrime investigation and prosecution units, can also be seen in increasing governmental regulations requiring compliance with information security standards set out for certain employment sectors. For example, in the United States, the financial services sector, health care administration organizations, and agencies of the federal government are required to meet information systems security requirements pertaining to the protection of data, installation and maintenance of firewalls, malware detection and prevention, privacy policies, and training of personnel, among other issues. Television, radio, and Internet-based media organizations are also raising awareness about various kinds of cybercrimes, such as identity theft, phishing scams, and threats posed by bot networks. Each of these forms of cybercrime and many others underscore the need for specialized cybercrime enforcement and prosecution units.

Resources

Notes and References

1. By Samuel C. McQuade, III

See Also

• Types of Cybercrime
• Cybercriminal

Further Reading

Computer and Intellectual Property Section–Criminal Division. (2002). Searching and seizing computers and obtaining electronic evidence in criminal investigations. Washington, DC: Department of Justice; Casey, E. (2001). Handbook of computer crime investigation: Forensic tools & technology. Burlington, MA: Academic Press; McEwen, J.T., Fester, D., and Nugent, H. (1989). Dedicated computer crime units. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice; Prosise, C. (2001) Incident response: Investigating computer crime. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies.