CJ 316 Midterm

MIDTERM

Professor Gavette

Investigating Cybercrime

CJ 316

Investigating Cybercrime

Part One

Terrorists Use of Technology

More then ever before, our country is being affected by both domestic and international terrorist groups. The world we live in today is not the same as it was twenty or thirty years ago. Our nations defense has risen due to the high threat volume of local and foreign terrorist groups. These attacks involve physical destruction of our cities and the lost of American lives; along with, attacks that may be on a lower spectrum such as, cybercrimes and movements of protesting. Is this the fate of our nation? How much more will the American government and American people take? Terrorist can’t do this by themselves. It takes strategic planning and the use of technology.

There are many terrorist groups that most people have heard about. Almost all of them have used technology to promote their ideologies and to get their point across to their people and the American people. The terrorist group that I will be discussing about is Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is an Islamic terrorist group that networks in over 60 countries around the world. Experts believe that they have over 1,000 involved members in the group and were considered the “most wanted” terrorist group in U.S history. Al-Qaeda is the terrorist group responsible for the attacks on 9/11. Although most of Al-Qaeda’s attacks seemed spontaneous, a lot of effort went into recruiting their members. Prior to the use of technology, they would put their “ads” in radical and Islamic magazines that were sold within their respective communities. Here, people who were interested would but the magazines and gain authorization through an ad that they read. Over the years, it eventually turned into using the web to get their information out there (Phillips, 2006).

Much like ISIS, who is another international terrorist organization that is responsible for the more recent attacks on our land, used the internet to promote their attacks and threat’s. Like ISIS, Al-Qaeda used the web to promote their ideologies. If need be, the leaders would take capture of their own men, women and children killing them on live television; all while threatening the United States to come and do something about it so to speak. There were many militants involved in Al-Qaeda. Most of them were workers who subsequently quit their jobs to join the group. The “founder” of Al-Qaeda was Osama Bin Laden as most of you us already know. A few others to mention who were involved in Al-Qaeda are, Abdullah Azzam who was said to be a leader in the Sunni outbreak while engaging in war against the soviets. Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, who was said to be second in command prior to the death of Bin Laden in late 2011. Lastly, Ayman al-Zawahiri who was the operations chief for Bin Laden, controlled dynamics in correlation with the attacks prior and post 9/11 (Frontline, 2014).

The war against Al-Qaeda has been an ongoing phenomenon for over 20 years. Neither the United States or Al-Qaeda have won this war officially. America has had the upper hand due to strategic and analytical planning; along with, technology and the use of military personnel. Because of our technology and intelligence, we can detect some movements and possible attack areas but not an exact time of when they will occur. On August 23rd, 1996, Osama Bin Laden declared war on the United States. In August of 2011, Bin Laden was killed by American Forces (Tierney, 2015).

Even though it has been 7 years since his death, the Islamic groups such as ISIS, ISIL and other Sunni organizations have tried to make up for the loss of their great leader. Although there were no legal actions specifically taken against Al-Qaeda, the loss of their great leader was enough to cause high tensions between both countries. Putting our military members lives at risk was the legal actions taken. There were rewards for information regarding the whereabouts of Bin Laden were. American troops asked the Iraqi and Afghanistan people if they knew where Bin Laden and his leaders were.

Regarding the technology that Al-Qaeda used, most of their technology involved surveillance of crucial buildings and areas of our airports and security systems. They would often use nationals to get into areas and surveillance the area before committing to an attack. They used photographs from computer files and Computer assisted design/computer assisted mapping software’s (CADCAMS) (Caruso, 2001). They have the element of surprise against their enemies. No one knows when they will attack but what American authorities do know is that, they plan their attacks well ahead of anyone else. They wait until the right time and then strike.

In conclusion, terrorist groups whether foreign or domestic, use technology to analyze how their victims act and react to attacks. They study them one by one. These specific groups that I mentioned in my midterm used technology to hit America’s weak spot, death of the innocent. Being situationally aware of our surroundings can help us remain vigilant. Al-Qaeda caused a lot of damage and pain; all while continuing the legacy with ISIS and ISIL. The home-grown attacks on America’s turf continue to happen. The great thing about technology is that, it can be tracked in both ways. They might not know it but, America shares intel and internet access with these terrorist groups. Now, we have the element of surprise.

References

Caruso, J. (December 8 2001). Al-Qaeda International. Testimony. FBI. Retrieved from

https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/testimony/al-qaeda-international

Frontline. (2014). Background: Al-Qaeda. WETA. Retrieved from

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/network/alqaeda/indictment.html

Phillips, J. (March 17 2006). The Evolving Al-Qaeda Threat. The Heritage Foundation. Heritage

Lectures. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-

compound/74/742419988184A31BCF8111B98D7DFA10_95223_1.pdf

Tierney, D. (August 23 2016). The Twenty Year’s War. The Atlantic. Retrieved from

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/08/twenty-years-war/496736/

Part Two

Online Identity Theft

Identity theft can happen to anyone and at any time. No matter how much you try to protect yourself from this, there is always a possibility of it being your turn. However, there are protective measures that can help limit suspects from stealing your identity. Identity theft can play a negative role in your life. You will feel ashamed, embarrassed, humiliated and even overwhelmed. This act can happen by getting ahold of a social security card, taking old receipts from credit cards and even watching you put your pin into an ATM. In this second part of the midterm, I will be giving some examples of identity theft and how these people were able to get the information; along with, how you may be able to protect yourself.

An Indianapolis man named David Day was arrested for using stolen Social Security numbers to help people with low credit scores purchase expensive items. Mr. Day offered repair services for credit to people with low credit scores at a cost of $2,000 to $3,500. Because people who had low credit scores couldn’t purchase big items such as cars, houses and even furniture, Mr. Day would take the two or three thousand dollars fraudulently without improving these peoples credit scores essentially. These people believed that he was helping them when in all actuality, he was taking their money illegally (Mack, 2015).

Mr. Day also worked with a lady named Kimberly Taylor. She helped Day obtain security cards. Mr. Day would identify “clients” in the state of Indiana and Ms. Taylor would match the true identities of the clients with the stolen social security card numbers. Mr. Day would then request from his clients supporting documents such as a utility bill and leasing agreements to make the scheme look real (Mack, 2015). There are no supporting details on how the victims of this fraudulent catastrophe reacted, but I can imagine that they were embarrassed and were in complete distraught.

As a victim of identity theft, there are a few things that you can do to protect yourself. In this specific circumstance, the victims should realize that anything involving your social security number is questionable. They should have asked more question regarding their credit. Secondly, they should have contacted one of the three credit bureaus to get an accurate statement involving why their credit scores are low and how they able to improve their credit score. Lastly, never give out your social security number. You are supposed to keep your social security card at home (Brandon, 2017).

The second example of identity theft is one that should create fear in all of us. Synthetic identity fraud is developing more and more throughout the United States. With synthetic identity fraud, suspects guess on a social security number and hope they get one essentially. In early March 2018, the Social Security department started to recognize fake social security numbers that did not match an actual person. The U.S government is starting to express concerns about this due to the uprising of terrorist attacks. A synthetic social security card is made up through a credit file and processed through the Social Security Administration (SSA). Since the phony social security card gets rejected, it still creates a profile in the SSA data base; which allows for the bad guy to store that information into his or her own profile and use that as a real person, who can still qualify for real transactions (Crothers, 2018).

The payoff for authorities here is patience. This type of fraudulent activity takes a lot of patience and fortunately for authorities, this is something that these fraudulent people don’t have. Frauds usually get inpatient and start mimicking patterns of young people and people who do not have a lot of credit history which means the fraud will not be able to make a large purchase. Although this doesn’t play out well for the frauds, police authorities are still skeptical about being able to catch these people. Authorities are most concern with terrorism (Crothers, 2018).

Seeing how this does not necessarily involve a specific individual, people should still follow the golden rules of keeping their social security cards locked up. Trying to memorize the number is your best bet. Do not give out your social security card to anyone and shred all and any information that has any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) on it. In this specific crime, the SSA needs to find a way of tracking “fake” social security cards. Attacking a person is a lot different then attacking the organization that tracks every social security card. This is where the real money is at, the branch.

When you go into a car branch and try to purchase a vehicle, one of the first questions they ask you is, how is your credit score? Next, they usually run your credit score. For them to run your credit score they must have your social security number. This is because your credit score is in correlation with your social security number. The car store can see how your credit score is just by pulling your social security number; it is all one big circle. About investigating internet identity thefts, I believe that the tracking methods work. It is not necessarily how they track it, it is when they track it. It seems to me that they are doing their “research” to late in most cases. These thieves always win by doing it at the right time. If your investigating internet related identity thefts, you need to be aware of all the potential risks, not just the ones that recently happen. By the time an investigator gets a lead on a potential internet crime, the suspect has already moved onto the next person and it is too late.

Investigators need to find a more proficient way of monitoring transactions. They also need to have advanced training on spotting scams and spam. The main problem is, internet fraud doesn’t just mean stealing someone’s identity on social media. It can mean anything from credit cards to a person’s drivers license. Seeing how the internet is so powerful, it is no wonder that this is the leading way and cause of identity theft. There are so many options for fraudulent users to choose from.

In conclusion, protecting yourself from identity theft can stressful. However, the results from not being a victim are better then being one. It is important to remember that, keeping your social security card locked away from everyone and trying to memorize the information is more valuable and safer then carrying it around with you. There is only one of you and that is how it should be. If you must get angry about it then do it. Don’t let people take over your life, finances and your future.

References

Brandon, E. (October 10 2017). How to Keep your Social Security Number Safe. U.S. News.

Retrieved from https://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/social-

security/articles/2017-10-10/how-to-keep-your-social-security-number-safe

Crothers, B. (March 9 2018). New ID Scam is prime target for Terrorist. Organized Crime,

terrorist pose a threat. New York Post. Retrieved from

https://nypost.com/2018/03/09/new-id-scam-is-prime-target-for-terrorists/

Mack, J. (November 25 2015). Indy Man Sentenced in Identity Theft Case. IndyStar. Retrieved

from https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2015/11/25/indy-man-sentenced-

identity-theft-case/76371566/

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