Download U.S. Secret Service Cyber Programs Pamphlet

ECTF Legislation
“…The Director of the United States Secret
Service shall take appropriate actions to
develop a national network of electronic crime
task forces,….for the purpose of preventing,
detecting, and investigating various forms of
electronic crimes, including potential terrorist
attacks against critical infrastructure and
financial payments systems.”
- USA PATRIOT Act, Sec. 105
CYBER CRIME
USSS Cyber Task Force Strategies
The U.S. Secret Service Partners with
To protect the U.S. critical infrastructure from
cybercriminals and financial criminals, the USSS has
adopted a multipronged approach. The USSS, joining with
its law enforcement partners, has successfully dismantled
some of the largest known cyber criminal organizations by
working through the agency’s established network of 38
Electronic Crimes Task Forces (ECTFs). With the recent
additions of the two international ECTFs in Rome, Italy,
and London, England; law enforcement, private sector,
and academia members are able to leverage their task
force participation into Europe, where cyber criminals
have operated with impunity.
State, Local and International Law
Over the last several years, the USSS has partnered with
international law enforcement and has established working
groups in the Baltic region, Netherlands, and Germany.
Embedded USSS agents provide a year-round presence
with these working groups for the sharing of information
on criminal tactics, techniques, and cyber intelligence.
In an effort to strengthen foreign membership to the
ECTFs, the USSS also has met with law enforcement
representatives from Belgium, Germany, France, Spain,
Norway, Colombia, China (Hong Kong), Australia, New
Zealand, and Bulgaria to identify areas where they can
work together to combat cyber crime.
Enforcement to Pursue the
World’s Most Wanted Cyber Criminals
Please visit the U. S. Secret Service website
at http://www.secretservice.gov
for more details and a complete
list of resources.
rev. 01/26/2015
Education, Computer Forensics
and Law Enforcement
The Mission
Continues
The USSS provides several avenues for state and local
law enforcement to obtain the necessary education to fight
today’s cyber criminals. The agency provides law enforcement
officers, prosecutors, and judges with training at the agency’s
National Computer Forensic Institute (NCFI) in Hoover,
Alabama. At the NCFI, law enforcement officers can become
certified computer forensic examiners and master the
intricacies of extracting data from digital media storage
devices. Additionally, by collaborating with Carnegie Mellon
University’s CERT-CC, the USSS is maximizing partnerships
with academia to study computer viruses and malware
infecting computers worldwide. In 2007, the USSS established
a partnership with the University of Tulsa, Forensic Laboratory
Center of Information Security, to create the Cell Phone
Forensic Facility. This facility expands the capabilities of law
enforcement to pursue a broader range of digital forensics,
specifically involving mobile payment systems, smart phones,
and skimmers.
Today, cyber criminals are operating in nearly every
civilized nation in the world. Current trends related to
cyber crimes indicate a significant increase in network
intrusions worldwide. The ability of cyber criminals’ to
obtain personal data, mount cyber attacks against the
United States government and financial institutions,
and anonymously spread malicious software is
alarming. However, these problems are not
insurmountable; agents in the USSS are committed to
disrupting and dismantling these criminal networks.
By developing critical relationships with the private
sector to fight cyber crime, the USSS has investigated
and arrested some of the world’s most wanted cyber
criminals. The USSS will aggressively continue its
mission to safeguard U.S. financial infrastructure and
payment systems and preserve the integrity of the
U.S. economy.
The Service’s Inception
Return on Tax Payer Investment
As one of the oldest federal investigative law enforcement
agencies in the United States, the U.S. Secret Service
(USSS) is mandated with the mission of suppressing
counterfeiting and protecting America’s financial payment
systems (among other duties including protection of the
president, the vice president, and former elected leaders).
Today, as financial payment methods evolve, so does the
USSS. In 2001, Congress, through the USA PATRIOT Act,
directed the USSS to establish nationwide electronic crimes
task forces that partner with law enforcement, the private
sector, and academia in detecting and suppressing
computer-based crime. Today, as a leader in cyber
investigations the USSS has arrested some of the world’s
most wanted cyber criminals who are responsible for
billions of loss to American taxpayers. Since 2001, the
USSS has arrested over 10,000 suspects for cyber crimerelated violations, and prevented over $13 billion in
potential losses to victims. Finally, the USSS has continued
its long-standing tradition of excellent partnerships with U.S.
Attorneys’ Offices, achieving a high conviction rate of 99.4%
for all cases that went to trial.
As the original protectors of the nation’s financial
systems, the USSS continues to prevent billions
of dollars of loss to American taxpayers. In fact,
the taxpayer investment in the USSS has annually
equated to billions in loss prevented to the American
economy. Recently, USSS agents located and
arrested an international hacker, who was responsible
for illegally breaching a Federal Reserve Bank
computer network, as well as numerous U.S. financial
institutions computers. An analysis of the suspect’s
computer disclosed credit card data with an estimated
value of over $200 million.