Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches [Paperback]

Felicia Donovan (Author), Kristyn Bernier (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0789739224 | ISBN-13: 978-0789739223 | Publication Date: December 14, 2008 | Edition: 1

“Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches offers one of the most insightful views of the latest criminal threats to the public: cyber crime. This book provides a good primer on how your personal information can be easily obtained by some of the folks you least want to have it.”

–Maureen Boyle, crime reporter,

The Enterprise of Brockton, MA

 

“Experts Felicia Donovan and Kristyn Bernier pull no punches in explaining the dangers lurking on the Web, from identity appropriation and theft to using new technology and the Internet to facilitate real-life stalking. Parents especially will be shocked at how easy it is for predators to target and solicit children online.

 

“By clearly explaining the dangers that lurk online and highlighting practical tips to minimize your risk, the authors have created a book that not only educates but empowers readers to protect themselves.”

–Jennifer Hemmingsen, columnist and former public safety reporter,

The (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Gazette

 

Written by leading cyber crime investigators, Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches takes you behind the scenes to reveal the truth behind Internet crime, telling shocking stories that aren’t covered by the media, and showing you exactly how to protect yourself and your children. This is the Internet crime wave as it really looks to law enforcement insiders: the truth about crime on social networks and YouTube, cyber stalking and criminal cyber bullying, online child predators, identity theft, even the latest cell phone crimes. Here are actual cases and actual criminals, presented by investigators who have been recognized by the FBI and the N.H. Department of Justice. These stories are true—and if you want to stay safe, you need to know about them.

 

     •    Learn how today’s criminals can track your whereabouts, read your emails, and steal your identity

     •    Find out how much of your personal information is already online—and how to keep the rest private

     •    Learn how cyber stalkers really think—and how to protect yourself  from them

     •    Protect your laptop, your iPod, and your precious data from getting stolen

     •    Encounter the “dark side” of Internet dating

     •    Discover the hidden crime wave on today’s specialized social networks

     •    Uncover the cell phone “upskirters” and “downblousers” —and the technicalities that keep them out of jail

     •    Follow cyber crime specialists as they investigate and catch online sexual predators

     •    Get the real truth about phishing, pharming, criminal spam, and online scams

     •    See how investigations really work—and why TV crime shows often get it wrong!

     •    Walk through your own personal, step-by-step, online safety checkup

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Felicia Donovan is a recognized law enforcement technology and cyber crime expert who spent ten years at a New England police department and received recognition from the FBI on her work related to cases. The author of the popular The Black Widow Agency series, she has been featured in Law Enforcement Technology magazine.

 

Kristyn Bernier, a detective and 15-year veteran of a New England-based police department, currently specializes in undercover work fighting Internet crimes. As an investigator with the Northern New England Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, she has been honored by the N.H. Department of Justice.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

A Message from the Authors

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

—Edmund Burke

Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches is an important part of your personal safety arsenal. The reality these days is that you are far more likely to become a victim of a cyber crime than a physical crime. Preventing victimization online can translate into preventing yourself from being vulnerable offline as well. Studies show a significant correlation between stalking and physical abuse, sexual assault, and even homicide; therefore, every step toward education, awareness, and prevention can make a huge difference in regard to your safety.

Many books are now available about cyber crime and online safety, but few are written from the perspective of two women with over 25 years of combined law-enforcement experience who understand both the limitations of law enforcement and the court system in prosecuting cyber crime—as investigators, experts, and victims of cyber crime.

For example, the reality of the legal system today is that prosecuting a cyber stalker, even if a guilty verdict is obtained, does not mean the offender will necessarily spend a great deal of time behind bars—if they're even sent to prison at all. This does not take into account that only a fraction of these incidences are ever reported, let alone prosecuted. It is estimated that 1.4 million people are stalked in America every year. Only 42% actually report their stalker to the police, with 57% saying that they did not initially report for fear of being ignored or laughed at (University of Leicester, 2005). It is estimated that over 80% of stalking incidences on college campuses are not reported to the police (National Victimization of College Women, Fisher, Cullen & Turner, 2000). That's the painful reality we see day in and day out in our real jobs.

Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches chronicles the real-life stories of fighting cyber crime, how it can be prevented, and the human component of victimization—putting a face on the issues and telling the stories of victims that are never told .

We'll show you the shocking tools readily available to cyber stalkers and identity thieves. This book becomes an important tool in your personal safety arsenal by providing information in an easy-to-understand format with resources for further investigation.

We'll reveal tools available to track someone's whereabouts—both in person and online—including many that can be installed in under 5 minutes! It covers important issues such as whether it's legal for someone to covertly take your picture with a digital camera and post it online. We'll provide specific websites for you to get a better idea of how much of your personal information is already available online, plus teach you how to limit your information from getting out there in the first place. These are the tools of cyber stalkers, but we want you to be aware of them so you know exactly how a cyber stalker thinks. For a cyber stalker, information is dominance and power, and we show you the websites they use and the lengths they'll go to obtain that power. CCF shows how a few simple steps can reduce your web whereabouts from being tracked. We introduce the concept of online voyeurism while explaining the laws about digital privacy, and we give you easy steps to follow to shore up your computer's defenses to prevent identity theft. CCF covers the most recent stories and technologies to ensure your personal online safety. We even share our own personal experiences, including becoming victims of cyber crime and trying to "catch our own predators." We also give you and your children important safety tools to use.

Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches covers the impact of social networks, the migration of cyber crime to the cell phone platform, the Adam Walsh Act, legislation to stiffen penalties against sex offenders, voyeurism, YouTube as a virtual ground for all kinds of criminal activity, and the horror of online dating gone bad.

If you were to install a security system in your house, does it guarantee you'll never get burglarized? Of course not, but it can significantly reduce the chances of someone breaking into your house. You still need to be vigilant and mindful. Consider this book an adjunct to your personal safety system. It is the flashing red alert to advise you that the email that sounds too good to be true, is. It is the caution flag that let's you know someone's demeanor could easily lead them to becoming an online stalker. It is the resource that shows you what tools are available that make it easy for someone to track your whereabouts, read your email, and steal your identity. We even show you ways to protect your iPod and laptop from getting stolen.

The purpose of this book is not to scare anyone away from going online, but rather to educate readers on how to go online and be safe. The Internet can be a very safe place with some basic knowledge of what is not safe and how to avoid it.

Stay safe.

—Felicia and Kristyn

---

Note - Whenever possible, we have used actual cases that have been publicly disseminated. In many cases, we have identified offenders by name. We do not, however, identify victims by name, even if their names were publicly released. We have changed the names of victims in order to protect their identity. We feel very strongly about not revictimizing anyone for the sake of this book.

---

© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Que; 1 edition (December 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789739224
• ISBN-13: 978-0789739223
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,037,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Felicia Donovan developed an early reputation for telling tales, particularly about her three older siblings. She apologizes profusely for any harm this may have caused and was subsequently encouraged by her mother, a freelance writer, to put her overly active imagination to better use.

Felicia began writing stories and poems early on and completed her first novel by the time she graduated from high school. She subsequently joined her college paper and won the prestigious Scripps-Howard Foundation Journalism Scholarship based on her writing submissions.

After obtaining her Degree, Felicia went on to become a teacher. Always willing to try new things, she left teaching to join a New England Police Department where she was first introduced to the fascinating world of digital crime.

Always compelled to write, Felicia wrote the first in THE BLACK WIDOW AGENCY series of comedy-mysteries based on her experiences in law enforcement (mostly the comedy). Her writing always reflects her hope that justice will be served, the underdog will rise, and everyone will be treated equally and respectfully with tolerance (at minimum) and acceptance (at best). She believes very much in happy endings.

Felicia resides in the bucolic countryside of New England with an old, blind dog who sheds, and her Partner, who does not.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what you think it is, June 14, 2009

By 

Matthew W. Holt - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches (Paperback)

I purchased this book because I am doing research on cyber crime to try to define a model that would help estimate the size of the "cyber crime industry". Anyone having spent any reasonable amount of time on this topic knows that current estimates range from an unjustifiable $100 million to an unjustifiable $1 trillion (I used to take Finjan seriously). Please understand that my level of awareness in the cyber crime space is relatively high.

By the title, I expected this book to focus on the activities of organized cyber crime and how law enforcement deals with it. However, upon reading, I quickly realized that there is a fundamental difference in the logic of the discussion of the book and the title of the book, at least I far as I would like to address it.

The overall tone of the book seems to be the use of technology by "deviant" men to abuse women and children. While I concur that 100% of the cases cited in the book are repulsive and the perpetrators should be castrated, I must say that I found the argument to be a bit more emotional than technical, which, by the title, is what I was expecting.

Notwithstanding the generally well-documented case studies, I detect a tinge of "revenge" in the writing, as if the authors had themselves been victims of some unfortunate on-line mishchief a bit closer to the heart than what they share in the book.

That said, please do not misunderstand me. This book is a well-written documentary of many people that have been criminally assaulted by delinquents that have leveraged technology to execute their crimes. Let there be no mistake: the crimes and criminals are real. However, I do not think "cyber crime" is the appropriate label for every instance in which someone uses technology to committ a crime.

"Cyber crime" is a term that should be used for crimes committed on-line. If I use a search engine to find your address and then I rob your house, this is not a cyber crime. This book considers this a cyber crime, and 90% of the book focuses on this tpye of "cyber" crime...crime that uses "cyber" technology as an enabler.

After this criticism that could be considered harsh, let me point out the srtrong points of this book. It is a clear, rationale account of how deviant people use technology to advance their malicious activities. There are some seriously delusional people that are unfortunately savvy in a techological sense. Advanced technology helps these people make their nastiness more efficient. The cases discussed are serious, many of the outcomes are tragic, and the people writing them are clearly passionate about reducing the risk of the potential victims of the crimes disucssed. For this I commend their effort, and I hope that they are very successful.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is being abused on-line, and I believe that the authors would intervene at a personal level to help you. I do not, however, recommend this book to anyone looking for a reference body for law enforcement acitivities in cyber crime.

Assuming the authors find my point of view misaligned, I would very much like to continue this discussion off-line. I personally guarantee that I will follow-up on any response given to my evaluation of this book. I publish and take responsibility for my reviews under my own name.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More for newbies than techy security folks, March 30, 2009

By 

Brent W. Wylie - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches (Paperback)

The old adage of 'don't trust a book by its cover' comes to mind on this one. As a computer security professional and forensic hobbyist myself, I was thinking this book may provide some in-depth information on crimes and investigative techniques you won't find on the evening news (or SANS newsbites). What I found though, was more appropriate for my 65 year old mother or other computer neophyte that needs some basic information to avoid being victimized. Instead of teaching us how to investigate/solve cyber crime, the core theme was how to avoid it. There were some times where I thought if my Mom did read this book, she would never use the internet. If I were to rename the book, it would be "The Internet is the Wild, Wild West - Here's Some Ammo". The topics were mostly generic in nature and I didn't feel like I was getting any privileged or unique information that I couldn't get from other sources.

So clearly, my expectations were not in line with the book, but I don't want to fault the authors. I realize my disappointment is entirely my fault for mis-interpreting the title. If I had read the "Message from the Authors", I may have been alerted that this is more of an "Internet Safety 101" course. If you are looking for such book, than by all means I recommend this book. If you are a computer security professional however, you may found this to just be a re-fresher with little added value.

2.0 out of 5 stars Highly disappointing, September 16, 2009

By 

Knikki Jacobsmeyer "security guru" (charlotte, nc) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches (Paperback)

As a security professional, I was greatly looking forward to some in depth stories of cyber crime, but was highly disappointed by the content of the book. There was no feeling that the authors had any first hand experience actually working with cyber crime - in fact, most of the information was simple recaps of online events that could be found on MSNBC or CNN - no additional details or insights, and certainly no first hand knowledge.

The book is egregiously self-righteous, emitting words of wisdom like, "Flirting online can have serious consequences." Wow. Really?

To be fair, I think the book would be a good read for NON-security professionals and parents, who would likely find the information useful and entertaining (and likely somewhat frightening). For someone who is truly studying internet defense and online security, I strongly feel the book is a waste of time and money.