Final Thoughts

This was my first time participating in a Blog and it was a great experience. I also enjoyed reading the blogs that were posted by my classmates.

            My Blog was titled “Police Lacking in Cyber Security Skills”

During my weekly blog assignments I used Google and Bing search, I wanted information that was relative to cyber crimes involving ISIS. I also used the library, which provided me with the relative newspaper articles. There was information involving foreign police agencies and how they handled cyber crimes. This information was interesting to read as it provided the different views of how cyber threats are handled internationally.  I particularly enjoyed reading about the New Jersey State Police Cyber Crimes unit, and their defense team. New Jersey is one of the few State agencies that are taking a lead on the defense of cyber threats.  

One important thing I have learned from blogging, when it comes to Information Security, is to not reveal any sensitive material.  

Police merging with Internet giants

I read a refreshing article. Interpol has teamed up with Trend Micro and Kaspersky Lab to help tackle cyber-crime. This marriage of Interpol with these Internet giants will supply Interpol with a digital forensic laboratory for identifying and combating cyber crimes, they will also provide training. Trend will share its threat information analysis with Interpol to assist the world police body to investigate, deter and prevent cyber-crime, with Kaspersky providing its products, intelligence and ongoing support. Previously Kaspersky have partnered with the city of London police to assist them in tackling cyber-crime.

            This is a great step in the fight against cyber crimes. I hope this merger of these Internet giants and Interpol spawn a trend that police agencies around the US can follow. It would be of great benefit if Microsoft or IBM, provide some form of training course to assist police and law enforcement officers in the cyber battle.

Reference:

Jowitt, T. (2014). Interpol Opens Cyber-Crime Base, Partners With Kaspersky, Trend Micro. Eweek, 1.

Fighting ISIS online

My last Blog I discussed how ISIS is attacking police and the threats they pose on the Internet. This week I will discuss the fight against ISIS. There is a ton of information on how ISIS is ramping up their online presence and recruitment efforts however, there are new initiatives to attempt to quell their growth. I just read an Internet article where the European security ministers have come together to discuss talks with technology giants in an attempt to stop ISIS from using the Internet to spread propaganda. These talks, which were held in Luxembourg, will include representatives from Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and other technology companies. They discussed Joint training between anti-terrorist police and Internet industry specialists and to include sessions to raise public awareness of online terror.

            Another article I read stated The US Department of State (DoS) has begun a campaign of shock and awe against ISIS. To counter the ISIS social media offensive, the DoS’s official verified Twitter account (@ThinkAgain_DOS) has been singling out accounts promoting the insurgent group and posting counter-propaganda, including graphic images of atrocities and messages in Arabic. The account is currently using the name "Think Again Turn Away". This counter propaganda has been around since 2011.

These articles are refreshing to read because it is a start in an attempt to put a damper on the ISIS Internet recruitment.

References:

Dean, J. (Oct. 9, 2014) The Times. EU summons tech giants to take on fighting ISIS online. Retrieved from http://the times.co.uk

Cooper, P. (July 2, 2014) ITProportal. US government unleashes secret weapon against ISIS: Internet trolling. Retrieved from http://itproportal.com/2014/07/02/us=department-of-state-unleashes-trolling-campaign-against-isis/#ixzz3HxsnsRbP.

ISIS

This week blog will discuss the threats of ISIS and what Police agencies may face in the near future. In New York City a hatchet-toting Jihadist, who had ties to ISIS, attacked four Police officers.             While these threats are real, the threat of cyber is something that may occur here in the United States. I read a few articles titled “ISIS is ramping up efforts to mount a massive cyber attack”, “ISIS Cyber Ops: Empty threat or reality”. These articles state the threat and capability of ISIS attacking major infrastructure in the United States, which includes utilities and financial, is real. ISIS is massive when it comes to social media with this social media footprint a cyber attack is imminent. While Police Officers are dealing with physical threats and weapon carrying assailants, the cyber threat poses another threat that Law Enforcement Officers should prepare for.

Reference:

Paganini, P. (Sep. 14, 2014) Security Affairs. ISIS is ramping up efforts to mount a massive cyber attack. Retrieved from http://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/28300/cyber-crime/isis-cyber-caliphate.html.

  

McFarlin, J. (Sep. 25, 2014) Security Week. ISIS Cyber Ops: Empty Threats of Reality? Retrieved from http://www.securityweek.com/isis-cyber-ops-empty-threat-or-reality.

Hello again, I just read an interesting article dealing with a CJIS, Criminal Justice Information System, mandate that should be implemented by police agencies this October. The computers that have access to any FBI database should have a multifactor authentication system. I am not a computer IT specialist, but this is 2014 and I would have thought that this should have been already in place.  Here is a direct quote from the article “Computer security is one of the primary concerns for many of the nation's companies and government agencies. Billions of dollars is spent each year on preventing external threats from entering protected networks. But the sad truth is that most computer network breaches are caused by sloppy internal security policies and procedures” (Griffith, 2014).

            The article goes on to say that police vehicles that are equipped with laptop computers need an additional security login measure when officers access them. This lack of authentication is leaving a lot of these computers vulnerable to attacks.

            After reading this article it shows how much police agencies are lacking when it comes to cyber security.

Reference:

Police Technology Magazine. Griffith, D. (2014), Cyber Security: Locking down the Databases, Retrieved from http://www.policemag.com/channel/technology/articles/2014/08/cyber-security-locking-down-the-databases.aspx