Cyber Crime Task Force Plan

Cyber Crime Task Force Plan
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Executive Summary
Cybercrime is the unlawful action where communication devices or computers are applied in committing crimes by a given population. Credit card fraud is identified as a significant problem in St. Louis County. It involves unauthorized debit or credit cards to obtain properties or money fraudulently. The key prioritized cybercrime threats that the task force should consider are identity theft, sexual exploitation, and data breaches through credit fraud. The task force must handle identity theft due to the adverse outcomes on the victims. Besides, sexual exploitation of children is rising online due to adult content exposure, and the task force must eliminate it. Data breaches and theft must also be handled by reducing the higher rate of hacking. The task force will consider the multijurisdictional organizational structure, which involves different agencies and bodies with the main agenda of addressing the unlawful issue. The key system needed for developing a cybercrime lab includes cloud-based storage, circuits, random access memory, flash drivers, and highly effective data transmission with reliable computer systems. Lastly, the privacy act should heavily be implemented to sustain the increased cyber threats in the county. There is a need to revise the privacy act specifically for St. Louis County to improve the penalties. Intensified penalties will reduce the increased cases of cybercrime threats.
Cyber Crime Threats in St. Louis County
Cybercrime threat is a common problem that heavily impacts St. Louis and needs structured and timely intervention to restore citizens' privacy. Cybercrime is the unlawful action where communication devices or computers are applied in committing crimes (Yar & Steinmetz, 2019). St. Louis County has heavily invested in computer technology to reinvigorate the economy; however, the same technology imposes a critical threat due to increased cybercrimes. Besides, there are different forms and severities upon which cybercrime threats are experienced in St. Louis County. Credit card fraud is identified as a major problem in the county. It involves unauthorized debit or credit cards to obtain properties or money fraudulently. Cybercriminals steal credit cards and use them to conduct manipulated crimes. Besides, they are obtained from unsecured websites. Statistically, cybercrime has become a critical problem within the county latitude at a rate of 17% and occurs on 1 out of 1000 residents in St. Louis County (Dwellsy, 2022). Many incidences of credit fraud have constantly been reported to the St. Louis department and other jurisdictions. Therefore, it is a major threat to the county's cyber security.
Other cybercrime threats in St. Louis include corporate data theft, cyberextortion, sexual exploitation of children, ransomware attacks, and consistent hacking. The identified elements are heavily jeopardizing the county's data stability and privacy. For instance, many corporate and healthcare organizations are heavily impacted by cybercrime due to improved digitalization. The previous reports by St. Louis healthcare organizations also indicate increased cybercrime threats and patient data loss (Dwellsy, 2022). The identified data critically indicate that a reliable task force is necessary to restore cyber security in the county. Besides, cybercrime is exponentially growing in the county since it is a worldwide problem advancing due to the increase in complex technologies. The county similarly adopts many advanced technologies exposing it to cybercrime threats. Despite the named cybercrime threats that the county is exposed to, there are highly prioritized threats that the cybercrime task force should address to limit their adverse impacts.
Top Priority Cybercrimes
The three major cybercrimes that will be prioritized for the task force include:
I. Identity theft- The task force must handle identity theft due to the adverse outcomes on the victims. Besides, the county is heavily experiencing constant identity theft involving credit fraud. Therefore, handling identity theft will intensify citizens' privacy and reduce the rising cases.
II. Sexual exploitation of children-There is rising online exploitation of children by exposing them to adult content. It is classified as a top cybercrime issue since it promotes vulnerability among the children in the country, and it also interferes with their future engagement.
III. Data breaches- Data breaches and theft must also be handled by reducing the higher rate of hacking. Handling the problem of data breaches would safeguard corporate data and restore privacy in healthcare organizations.
Cyber Crime Task Force Structure
The cybercrime task force must be based on a reliable structure that will make it easy to address the sources and the top priorities issues. Therefore, the only solution is to focus on a structure and necessary skills to address threats and minimize future occurrences. The task force must also consider effective agencies to implement the actions. It will be composed of all the government security agencies in the county and the police commission department.
Organizational Structure
The task force will consider the multijurisdictional organizational structure. The structure is significant since it involves different agencies and bodies with the main agenda of addressing the unlawful issue. The key reason for using the identified structure is to identify experts who can successfully address the situation structurally. In collaboration with the CI and police commissioner, the FBI will conduct a significant and comprehensive investigation on cybercriminals. There will be a strong and one reporting unit centered at the St. Louis police department. The major reason for having a uniform and centralized reporting area is to limit any leakages that may alter the actions. The multijurisdictional structure will be hierarchically based to ensure effective information flow and data protection. At the lower level of the structure, the FBI will form a significant investigation team to report to the team leader. The major elements that the FBI will give priority in their investigation include sexual exploitation, data breaches, and identity theft. The organization will work as a strong team to ensure that the three prioritized cybercriminal threats are handled.
Personnel and Skills
The investigation and the management of the top three threats require reliable personnel and skill. The key personnel includes the CI, forensics, and CBI. The identified team should work together to promote a successful investigation. Besides, they must show signs of engagement and cooperation during the investigation. They must also focus on quality skills. For instance, information is a key skill required in investigating cybercrime threats, including child pornography, data breaches, and identity theft. Information gathering is the most crucial and relevant skill in the cybercrime investigation since it identifies evidence necessary for the prosecution process. The information gathering ...