Fergie's Tech Blog

FBI Embeds Cyber-investigators in Ukraine, Estonia

Robert McMillan writes on PC World:

Hoping to catch cybercrooks, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun embedding agents with law enforcement agencies in Estonia, the Ukraine and the Netherlands.

Over the past few months, the agents have begun working hand in hand with local police to help crack tough international cybercrime investigations, said Jeffrey Troy, chief of the FBI's Cyber Division, in an interview at the RSA Conference in San Francisco. Because virtually all cybercrime crosses international borders, this type of cooperation is crucial, law enforcement experts say.

The embedding was inspired by a successful operation in Romania, begun in 2006, which led to close to 100 arrests. "We looked at that and said, 'Where else can we do this,'" said Troy, who heads up FBI cybercrime operations.

The FBI has a history of embedding its agents with international police. In the 1980s, U.S. agents worked with Italian law enforcement to crack mob cases that involved the two countries. "This is not a new model, but it's certainly new to cyber," Troy said.

posted by Fergie @ 3/04/2010 01:18:00 PM