This week's announcement of charges against individuals from Eastern Europe and Russia for allegedly hacking into credit card processors in the United States shines a spotlight on the issue of cyber crime and security.
The Department of Justice, through the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (
ICITAP), is working diligently with foreign nations all over the world to develop professional and transparent law enforcement institutions that protect human rights, combat terrorism and corruption, and reduce the threat of transnational crime, including cyber crimes.
One of the areas that ICITAP is focused on improving is cyber security. In Eastern Europe, for example, Department of Justice officials are working with law enforcement agencies in nations that make up the U.S. - GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova) Framework Program. ICITAP helped develop a Virtual Law Enforcement Center, which links the four member countries through a secure video and criminal information network.
Increasing coordination and cyber security capabilities in these nations will help prevent fraud and allow for better communications to investigate crimes and catch criminals. In December 2009, ICITAP will provide training in Moldova for cyber crime investigators, in partnership with other law enforcement partners. ICITAP also provided training and equipment to the Ukrainian forensic laboratory for the examination of digital evidence seized in cyber crime investigations, including recent international investigations of child pornography and trafficking in persons. In Serbia, ICITAP is working with the Organized Crime Directorate to develop a Cyber/High Tech Crimes Workshop and has facilitated communication between U.S. and Serbian law enforcement officials involved in joint cases.
Established in 1986, ICITAP’s first mission was to help train police officers in Latin America. Over the next two decades, ICITAP evolved into a full-service criminal justice development agency that plays an important role in fostering international stability and rule of law, which are vital to U.S. security.
During the past 20 years, ICITAP - part of the Department’s Criminal Division - has provided law enforcement development assistance around the world, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Kenya, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru. ICITAP works in close partnership with its funders; the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Department of Defense.
The office has been particularly busy recently, with 17 field offices worldwide and three new offices opening soon. In FY 2009, ICITAP carried out more than 1,000 training events for approximately 40,000 foreign law enforcement professionals, and was involved in nearly 140 technical assistance and training partnership activities with U.S. government agencies.
In December, ICITAP personnel from the field offices will gather in Washington, D.C., for the annual managers’ conference where they will share best practices and lessons learned from their overseas programs, before heading back to the far reaches of the globe to continue their missions.
For more information on ICITAP, please visit their Web site: http://www.justice.gov/criminal/icitap