New Computer Forensics Lab In California To Deal With Internet Crime

By Author: Peter Martin
Total Articles: 211
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Many countries across the world do not have a mechanism to deal with the growing number of cybercrime incidents. The police force and counter-crime agencies are not fully equipped to investigate the sophisticated modus-operandi of the criminals. They are generally trained to deal with traditional crime and lack skill and expertise to handle complex cybercrime incidents. As a result, many computer crime incidents are left unreported. Lack of computer forensics skills also hampers the investigation process. Countries such as US and UK are also finding it difficult to keep pace with the rising Internet crime. Threats in the cyberspace require coordinated effort of different counter-crime agencies.

Recently, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) inaugurated a $7 million new computer forensics lab in Orange, California to combat the increasing number of computer related crimes. The enormity of the computer and Internet related crime can be gauged by the fact that the newly opened facility is third such lab in California. There are fourteen other labs across US.

The lab will help FBI in coordinating with different ...
... counter-crime agencies in the country. The lab will facilitate computer forensic investigation through sophisticated software. The software will help forensic experts in extracting and analyzing data from computers, laptops, mobile phones, cameras and other digital devices. Computer forensics helps investigative authorities in collecting evidence and tracing the crime trail. Legally acceptable evidence is crucial to bring perpetrators of crime to justice.

Government and investigative agencies of other countries must also conduct computer forensic training programs and workshops to enlighten the police personnel on threats such as social engineering, phishing, identity theft, unauthorized access and other cyber threats. The training programs must also guide the personnel on incident handling, counter measures and safe computing practices. Counter-crime professionals can also benefit from the distance learning programs to update themselves on latest security threats and measures adopted by major investigative agencies across the world. Awareness of possible threats emanating from the cyberspace is crucial to encourage crime reporting. Availability of crime-related data will help investigators in analyzing the trends and initiating counter crime measures.