Incident Reporting
If you become the victim of an Internet attack or crime, it is important to notify the appropriate authorities to give you the best chance to recoup any losses and ensure that the criminals behind the attacks are brought to justice.
Here are some tips for responding to various sorts of online incidents:
- Hacker attacks and computer viruses: Following a suspected attack or viral infection the most important thing is to limit the damage by disconnecting the affected computer from the Internet and having it thoroughly scanned and cleaned, either by your internal IT department or a specialist. Report any suspected Internet crimes to the FBI.
- Spyware: If you think you've been infected with unwanted spyware or adware, your first priority should be to clean your computer. Run a spyware scan, or have it professionally diagnosed and cleaned. Report spyware incidents to the Federal Trade Commission.
- Spam: The best way to combat spam is to use a spam filter, and to delete messages that make their way through. You can also forward fraudulent spam messages to the FTC at spam@uce.gov.
- ID Theft: If you become a victim of identity theft, you may have to take several steps to regain your identity and notify the relevant authorities. Start with the FTC's identity theft page which contains instructions for reporting ID theft and recovering your identity.
- Online Shopping Fraud: Be careful who you conduct business with online. If you are defrauded in an online transaction, try to resolve things with the seller. If that fails, you can report incidents to:
The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) also maintains an incident reporting system for computer security incidents.