Microsoft Partners with Australian Law Enforcement Agencies to Combat Cyber Crime
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Canberra – Wednesday 30 March 2005, – Microsoft Australia today joined with the Australian High Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC) to assist in providing education and training to Australian law enforcement agencies to help in the fight against cyber crime. The three day Forensic Computing and Computer Investigations Workshop being run by the AHTCC from the AFP College in Canberra will be held from 30th March to 1st April. Conducted by local and international Microsoft security experts, the FBI and a number of other specialists in cyber crime, the workshop will address cyber crime threats that affect Australian business, government agencies and citizens and is part of the ongoing collaborative partnership between Microsoft and law enforcement agencies around the world. In Australia last year, Microsoft trained more than 200 law enforcement officials on a broad range of issues relating to cyber crime, including forensic work, tracking down online paedophiles, information sharing procedures and communication protocols. This week’s workshop is the first time that law enforcement agencies in Australia will receive comprehensive technical engineering training from Microsoft to specifically handle and track illegal phishing scams and botNETS. High-tech crimes can be roughly divided into two categories: crimes committed with or against computers or communication systems; and traditional crimes which are largely facilitated by technology, such as fraud, illicit drug trafficking, child sexual exploitation, terrorism and money laundering. Given the global scale of the threat, Microsoft Corporation is working with Governments around the world to help them evaluate the seriousness and counter the threats posed by cyber crime. Since December 2003, Microsoft has conducted similar training with law enforcement agencies in 68 countries worldwide. According to Greg Stone National Technology Officer, Microsoft Australia “Cyber criminals have advanced from fairly simple virus writing to more clever attacks, sometimes using more than one attack mechanism. “These range from elaborate phishing scams, which use phoney Web sites to steal credit-card numbers and perpetrate identity theft; fraudulent spam that launches viruses or spyware; and malware such as Trojans, which enable criminals to take remote control over thousands of computers for massive, distributed attacks. “Another shift is in the motive of the typical cyber criminal. A few years ago, perpetrators who launched viruses did so mainly for fame or notoriety. Now online fraud and malware attacks are much more oriented toward financial goals, and increasingly appear to involve organised crime,” he said. |