FBI takes to planes in global fight against cybercrime

By Andrew Mitchell
Internet Editor
Federal News Radio

The FBI has taken to dispatching its agents around the globe on a moment's notice in an effort to more aggressively confront international cybercriminals.

Speaking with Jane Norris And Tom Temin on Wednesday's Federal Drive, Supervisory Special Agent Patrick Carney noted that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cyber Action Teams now include highly-trained experts who, at a moment's notice, jump onto planes to respond to fast-moving threats.

Carney, who is the Assistant Section Chief of the Cybercriminal Section of the FBI's Cyber Division, said that "at any given time" the Bureau will be deploying Cyber Action Teams wherever there is a "serious cyberincident, where we need to put a lot of resources on the ground all at once."

These Cyber Action Teams, said Carney, "consist of the most talented people in the FBI that have the technical skills to respond to really significant cyberevents." The teams include special agents, forensic examiners, analysts and other experts.

Carney noted that most serious cyberthreats to U.S. governmental, institutional and private interests come from outside the United States. Some of these incidents require a significant presence of U.S. law enforcers and technical experts in the country from which the attack is being made. Carney cited the instance of Romania, where the FBI is now working with the national police to counter cyberattacks.

"We find that the trend tends to be that victims are in the United States, because that's where the big financial institutions are, that's where people have a lot of money - and criminals are after money... and generally the actors are in foreign countries," Carney said.

He added that the Bureau is concentrating its efforts on countries where cyberattacks have originated and where "we can work with local law enforcement to get results."

Carney said that most countries are becoming increasingly cooperative in these efforts, as they "become aware of their own vulnerabilities."

Foreign authorities, Carney added, "are coming around to the realization that it's in their interest to make sure that the Internet is properly policed within their own countries."

Carney's in-studio appearance on Federal News Radio's morning show was part of a WFED series called Your Cyber Safety Net, being aired throughout October, which has been designated Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Installments of Your Cyber Safety Net can be heard Wednesday mornings at 7:28 on 1500 and 820 AM.

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