Today, the majority of crimes have a high-tech component. Criminal organizations commit identity theft by hacking into the computers of credit card companies. Also, white-collar criminals use e-mail, text messages, and instant messages to commit fraud. A spurned companion may terrorize a former partner by posting personal details on a social networking website, or a disgruntled employee may seek revenge by infecting his company’s IT system with a virus to destroy its data. To investigate and prosecute all forms of internet and computer crime effectively, a prosecutor’s office requires lawyers who are adept at using the complex laws that regulate the collection of computer evidence and who understand internet technology and computer forensics.
As District Attorney, I will create a dedicated Computer Crime Unit staffed by experienced lawyers with these forensic skills. This unit, which will work closely with the Office’s Identity Theft Unit, will have primary responsibility for: investigating computer intrusions; theft or manipulation of computer data; and sophisticated online fraud schemes such as “phishing,” where criminals fraudulently obtain an individual’s personal or financial information. The unit would also train investigative and legal staff, advise prosecutors on the on-line dimensions of traditional crime, and work with the private sector to reduce the incidence of data breaches and identity theft.