Kevin P. Meenan

Rethinking Our Response to Cybercrime

As they grew up, my now college-age children used to tease me about my computer age inadequacies by telling me, “Come into the ‘90s, Dad.” The new century rolled around, and it became, “Come into the aughts, Dad.” (Until the 20th century, zeros were referred to as “aughts” when ciphering. At the turn of the 20th century, the year 1901, for example, became 19 aught one. Now, in the 21st century, we are again in the aughts.) As hard as I have worked to become adept at keeping up, I know my children and their peers have an ease of use that I cannot match. It is an exciting time of change that can also intimidate us individually and as a profession. NDAA and our members need to “come into the aughts.”

No matter the jurisdiction size or the population, the Internet and communication and computer advancements are available virtually everywhere. Our citizens have unparalleled opportunities in this information age. Unfortunately, our nation’s criminal element also has unparalleled opportunities to use the new technology to wreak havoc and to cause mischief in this new century of ours.

Even as you read this, in each of our communities someone is committing a crime using the latest technological developments. In your town, someone is having their credit card information stolen. In your town, someone is receiving and transmitting child pornography. In your town, someone is beginning a chat room stalk and invading someone’s sense of security. In your town, the latest encryption software is protecting a drug dealer’s records. In your town, someone is setting up a meeting with a vulnerable pre-teen. If you think it is happening somewhere other than your community, then you need to “come into the aughts.”

We call this category cybercrime and have been treating it as a new beast unique in our collective experiences. That treatment is misguided. I would submit that we need to change our way of thinking towards cybercrime and recognize it for what it is: the same old criminal activity using the new tools of the 21st century.

As you probably already know, the prosecutors of this country and our nation’s law enforcement are playing catch-up. To respond, NDAA, APRI and the National College of District Attorneys have sponsored and developed training to educate prosecutors on emerging technology. Last year’s NDAA Metro conference was on cybercrime. Most recently, our summer conference in Boston offered four days of training focused exclusively on technology issues. Yet that focus, however well-intentioned, treats cybercrime as if it were something separate and self-contained—and that is a mistake.

Many prosecutors are just now updating their office equipment, moving slowly into cyber realities of e-mail and Web sites. Because we lack the techno-ease of our children, the technology becomes seductive in its own right and we lose sight of our purpose. We have set up our training to focus on the “how-to” of technology and to treat all cybercrime as if it were the same. It is not and it is time to change our approach.

That is why I have directed the NDAA committee chairs to include some aspect of the new technology in their work as it affects their specialized area of prosecution. Instead of handling all aspects of the new technology, our Cybercrime Committee will now focus on identifying the larger issues unique to the new technology. Information sharing and the nature of the Internet crosses state and national boundaries as the criminal uses the Internet to reach far from his computer screen. Therefore, the technology creates significant issues regarding search and seizure, extradition and arrest, and venue and jurisdiction. That will be the job of the Cybercrime Committee.

We need to ensure that each prosecutor course we offer includes and incorporates cyber aspects so that our training doesn’t reinforce the idea that cybercrime is somehow unique. Our assistants need to remember that they don’t need to be computer programmers to make the criminals’ new tools understandable to a jury.

I will work to see that NDAA takes the lead on cybercrime to:

• ensure that each training include cyber reality, emphasizing knowledge that a prosecutor needs to know to adequately supervise investigations and present them competently in court.
• push for and develop law enforcement capability (computer forensic expertise).
• educate our citizens and help community coalitions teach people how to protect themselves (elderly, businesses, children, consumers).
• lobby for adequate funding for police, crime labs and courts to have the equipment and training manpower necessary to properly investigate, prosecute and convict this new breed of criminal.
• work with DOJ to ease the gathering of information from other countries and other states.
• develop search warrant and subpoena protocols that recognize the interstate and international reality of the technology.
• make certain our members are exposed to the latest developments from the private sector.

We need to begin to pull cybercrime out of its own box and recognize that it is merely a part of our traditional problem areas of crime. Our challenges remain the same old ones, then. How do we ensure the best law enforcement investigation of a crime, cyber or not? How do we train our prosecutors to charge and present the case most effectively in court, cyber or not? How do we educate our constituents to best protect themselves from the criminals of our world, cyber or not.

We need to recognize that the motivations of our 21st century criminals are the same age-old motivations that have plagued humanity from the earliest days and remember that we are well-trained to handle them. NDAA is already “coming into the aughts.”

On a personal note, I am delighted and honored to serve as your president. This association works for prosecutors on so many fronts that I am sure it will be a fascinating and challenging year. As a career prosecutor who values NDAA for its service on behalf of our nation’s prosecutors, I relish the experience.