Fighting Cyber Crime the Better Way

As the use of mobile devices becomes more popular, the number of cyber crimes also increases. The internet can now be accessed by almost anyone who has a smartphone or other digital device. This worsening scene has made law enforcers look for more inventive ways of combating these criminals. The usual strategies alone cannot be effective against cyber crime. It needs a good deal of initiative, coupled with technology, in order to take a good stand against cyber criminals.

In California, a new special eCrime Unit is now catching and prosecuting internet crooks. This is a team created by the State’s Attorney General and, is comprised of 20 attorneys and investigators. It uses modern techniques to target criminal activities like email scams, piracy, child pornography, online fraud, and others. Many people have been, and are still being victimized by cyber crime, or e-crime, both online and off.

The unit has already solved one case and put a man in jail who was found guilty of hacking email and Facebook accounts. What he usually did was to break into an account, and he would then intimidate its owner by threatening to expose embarrassing pictures. Another case involved a criminal group whose main activity was using card scanners and hidden cameras at ATM machines to steal passwords and other sensitive account information.

Knowing that the internet is very important to the economy, to individuals, and to businesses, these criminals are not lacking in victims. From offline, their operations shifted online to steal very important information from individuals and groups. The year 2012 is seen to be a year of battling against online criminal activities. The past year proved to be problematic in terms of scams; this year will give rise to other types of online crimes.

More systematized and focused internet crime fighting activities will be delivered by the new eCrime Unit. According to the Attorney General, California would like to set a new trend in going after cyber criminals and prosecuting offenders. They will make sure that internet technology is useful not only to online criminals but more so to law enforcement agencies.

Image: chanpipat / FreeDigitalPhotos.net