DOJ targets cybercrime
- By Diane Frank
- Feb 20, 2000
Federal law enforcement's ability to locate and prosecute cybercriminals
will be quickly overwhelmed if Congress does not approve funding outlined
in the fiscal 2001 budget for additional personnel, new technologies and
private-sector security initiatives, according to top law enforcement officials.
At a Senate appropriations hearing last week, FBI Director Louis Freeh
and Attorney General Janet Reno stressed that cyberattacks such as the recent
spate of denial-of-service attacks and credit card number hijackings are
taking up more of law enforcement's resources.
The Justice Department's fiscal 2001 budget calls for a $37 million
increase over fiscal 2000. The new money has been earmarked for focusing
on education, training and personnel needed to investigate and prosecute
cybercrime.
The largest portion of the increase, $11.4 million, would go toward
hiring 100 new investigators for the FBI's Computer Analysis and Response
Teams, which support cybercrime investigations. During the denial-of-service
attacks, agents were pulled from other projects to examine log files and
other evidence, Freeh said.
"We believe that this latest attack illustrates...the importance of
assuring that the Justice Department is adequately funded to meet this challenge,"
said Robert Chesnut, associate general counsel for eBay, which was among
the e-commerce companies attacked recently.