The Need For More Aggressive Investigation and Prosecution of Cyber Stalkers

If you have never been the victim of a cyber stalker you probably just assume that if a crazed cyber bully ever targets you all you need to do is make a simple police report and the crime will be investigated and prosecuted. Nothing could be further from the truth and no one knows this better than victims of cyber stalkers and the private investigators they hire to locate and identify the stalkers.

Unfortunately the victims of these kinds of crimes know all too well that after making a police report the sad fact is that nothing ever comes of it. The patrolman that show up to take the initial report do not see it as a serious threat. They will suggest the victim turn off their computer, ignore the stalking, delete the emails unread. These officers are accustomed to visiting homes on domestic violence calls and burglaries and they just don't understand the impact cyber stalking and bullying has on the victims.

It's a double edged sword. Large urban police departments will have computer crime units. They have trained personal, they have the software, the tools and the training. However they are overloaded with cases and can only expend time on serious threats and large money crimes. many times much of their efforts will be in support of murder investigation or large drug cases or organized crime prosecutions.

While small town police departs will not have the necessary training, software or equipment to do even the most basic of computer crime investigations. They routinely send out their computer crimes to out side venders and will not spend that kind of recourses on what they may consider an insignificant only harassment investigation..

This is why the majority of cyber stalking victims will retain the services of private investigators to do all initial leg work to locate and identify the stalker. Then reduce that investigation to a report that can be turned over to local law enforcement. In some cases the private investigator will be called to testify but many times the local police can duplicate the steps of the investigation and the PI will not be required in court.

The real solution to this problem would be to reclassify all computer crimes as Federal crimes, then all these investigations could be handled routinely in one central location. victims would not be subject to the whims or budget restrictions of local law enforcement agencies.
Copyright (c) 2011 Opperman Investigations Inc

Ed Opperman is President of Opperman Investigations Inc. If you need help with a cyber stalking investigation visit http://www.emailrevealer.com

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Department Of Justice Describes Cyber Dangers, Legal Weaknesses

At the Senate hearings on mobile privacy, the Department of Justice took the opportunity to speak on the current dangers of cybercrime, cyberstalking and the need for increased data retention in a world where more and more consumers carry devices that serve as portals to their personal information, location, and activities.

"We can bank, shop, conduct business, and socialize remotely with our friends and loved ones instantly, almost anywhere. These devices drive new waves of innovation, personal convenience, and professional resources," said Jason Weinsten, the deputy assistant attorney general for the criminal division of the Department of Justice. "They also present increasingly tempting targets for identity thieves, cyberstalkers and other criminals."

Emphasizing that 64 percent of American cell phone users now have smartphones, Weinstein underlined the dangers inherent in the vast amount of information such gadgets can store, and the heightened capabilities of cybercriminals to use digital means to access and steal information from business and consumer networks.

All of these dangers led Weinstein to call for the ability for law enforcement officials to collect the electronic evidence they need to pursue such cases. Currently, inconsistent laws regarding data retention can stymie investigations when Internet Service Providers do not hold onto digital information for long enough.

He described "one heart-wrenching example," where an undercover investigation found a movie online showing the rape of a two-year-old child. The ISP transmitting the video had not kept information about the transmitter. Officials could not rescue the child, or apprehend the criminals involved.

"When a criminal uses a computer to commit crimes, law enforcement may be able, through lawful legal process, to identify the computer or subscriber account based on its IP address," Weinstein said. "This information is essential to identifying offenders, locating fugitives, thwarting cyber intrusions, protecting children from sexual exploitation and neutralizing terrorist threats – but only if the data is still in existence by the time law enforcement gets there."

Weinstein also discussed the rise of "botnets," a code used to infect and remotely control computers, as well as to capture keystrokes and mouseclicks, giving criminals knowledge of passwords, credit card numbers and more. On cell phones, cases like the "Droid Dream" malware attacks saw malicious apps install code designed to steal information from the handsets. Between 2008 and 2010, the U.S. Attorneys' Offices saw about 4,000 identity fraud cases.

But, Weinstein noted, "under current law, communications providers may voluntarily disclose or sell any noncontent data – such as information about a user’s location – for any reason without restriction to anyone other than state, local, and federal government agencies." The Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which regulates how companies can share data, was written at a time when "there was great concern over ensuring the flexible development of the then-nascent Internet industry." But times have changed, and the privacy landscape today is vastly different from the early days of the Internet.

Weinstein also highlighted another major issue regarding smartphone use: cyberstalking.

"One important consequence of the proliferation of mobile devices and services that collect location and other personal information about their users is the risk that stalkers, abusive spouses, and others intent on victimizing the user could use information from their mobile device to determine their whereabouts and activities," he said.

Current cyberstalking laws allow for the prosecution of those cyberstalkers that are in a different state from their victims, even though cyberstalking could take place with both parties on the same street.

"If an abusive spouse uses his spouse’s phone to determine when she visits law enforcement for assistance, or to find where she is when she takes refuge with a friend, this may not violate [the law] as currently drafted because the two live in the same state," Weinstein said.

While the Department of Justice has increased the attention its given to cybercrime, Weinstein's testimony made it clear that the legislation regarding prosecution of cyber-criminals is currently insufficient.