FBI's cyber crime fighting claims weak

WHILE the FBI claims that cyber crime is public enemy number three it does not appear to be allocating many resources to fighting it.

The Washington Post said that while the Men in Black were untouchable when it came to locking up paedophiles who used the net, its record on what most people consider "cyber-crime" is as bad as James Blunt's Back to Bedlam.

According to the FBI, the Innocent Images program accounted for a major share of the FBI cyber crime convictions and "pre-trial diversions" in fiscal year 2006.

However the number of agents used investigate involve computer intrusions or the trade and/or sale of stolen business and consumer data the FBI only wants to use 3.6 per cent of its active agents.

As the Post points out, if fighting cyber crime is the agencies third highest priority then how how are you going to do that with only 3.6 per cent of your agents?

Paul Kurtz, a former White House cyber security adviser for the Bush administration said the FBI needed to dramatically increase the number of agents and analysts supporting the government's overall cyber investigative efforts.

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