Just as you may be a supporter of your local police branch, there may be law enforcement teams in your area that can directly help you recover from a computer attack and help you develop a Continuity of Operations Plan for your company. Here are two nationwide programs that focus on cyber related crime.
- FBI/InfraGard. InfraGard is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) public/private partnership program that began in the FBI’s Cleveland Office in 1996. With its InfraGard National Members Alliance and InfraGard Members Alliance partners, InfraGard has developed a relationship of trust and credibility in the exchange of information concerning terrorism, intelligence, criminal, and cyber security matters. InfraGard’s information sharing and analysis effort serves the interests and combines the knowledge base of a wide range of its 84 Chapters and over 13,250 (2/21/06) vetted members. The goal of InfraGard is to promote ongoing dialogue and timely communication between members and the FBI. This information sharing is primarily accomplished by the local Chapters, which are geographically linked with FBI Field Office territories and their dedicated FBI Special Agent Coordinators. The InfraGard secure Virtual Private Network includes listservs and email to enable the exchange of sensitive, unclassified information. InfraGard’s public website, InfraGard.net, can be viewed for details, activities, and collaborations.
- U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Electronic Crimes Task Forces (ECTF). ECTF is a USSS program that began in the New York Field Office in 1985. In 2001, Congress recognized this USSS philosophy that success resides in the ability to bring academia, law enforcement and private industry together to combat crime.. As a result, the USSS was mandated by the PATRIOT Act to establish a nationwide network of ECTFs that encompasses this philosophy. The concept of the ECTF is unique in that it brings together not only federal, state, and local law enforcement, but also prosecutors, private industry, and academia. The common purpose is the prevention, detection, mitigation, and aggressive investigation of attacks on our nation’s financial and critical infrastructures. The ECTFs have grown from the initial Task Force in New York to currently over twenty Electronic Crimes Task Forces and Electronic Crimes Working Groups spanning the entire nation.
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