Headline, November 10 2022/ DUTCH : ''' '' HIGH TECH UNIT '' '''

DUTCH : ''' '' HIGH

 TECH UNIT '' '''

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THE WORLD'S OUTMODED APPROACH IS one of the most important factors behind the stunning rise of cybercrime.

The governments and the world should study the success of the ''Dutch National Police's High Tech Crime Unit.'' Because of its fast Internet and favorable legal conditions, the Netherlands has long been a popular spot for hackers to set up the servers they use to commit crimes.

The Dutch responded by launching the H.T.C.U. 15 years ago. Since then, it has become one of the world's leading law enforcement forces in fighting cybercrime.

Beyond arrests, it has prioritized anything that reduces hackers' return on investment, seizing criminals' servers, disrupting ransomware spreading botnets and notifying victims of impending attacks.

FROM its early days, the H.T.C.U. hired tech experts with no background, or even interest, in traditional policing. When some talented digital recruits couldn't pass the physical fitness tests or didn't want to use weapons, H.T.C.U. leadership changed the requirements, allowing computer experts to join without passing the usual exams.

But they left the job titles unchanged : Digital staff remained eligible for promotion to nearly any job in the H.T.C.U. 

STATE AND LOCAL POLICE GENERALLY CAN'T handle a sophisticated international crime that locks victims' data remotely - from patients medical histories and corporate secrets to students performance record.

AND THEN demands payment for a key. Many police departments and cyber crime units themselves have been hamstrung by ransomware attacks. Federal investigators the worldover, especially even the F.B.I, who are responsible for containing the threat, need to do much more and even better.

When ransomware gained traction a decade ago, individual attackers were hitting up home users for a few hundreds dollars. In 2015, as the crime was evolving into something more, the bureau still dismissed ransomware as an ''ankle biter.''

The F.B.I didn't prioritize ransomware until May 2021, when an attack on the Colonial Pipeline halted the flow of nearly half of the fuel consumed on the East Coast. The F.B.I. director, Christopher Wray, compared ransomware to the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, but by then the bureau was far behind the curve.

Earlier this fall, when the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest in the nation, spurned a ransom demand, a hacker group leaked hundreds of thousands of stolen files.

Last month's attack on CommonSpirit Health, one of the country's largest hospital operators, disrupted care and knocked patients' health records offline.

The situation could turn even more dire. Evidence is mounting that some ransomware gangs are linked to and protected by enemy governments. Hackers who steal data before locking it could turn over the digital spoils to their patrons.

The F.B.I's any job mantra also hinders recruitment. People who have spent years becoming computer experts may have little interest in pivoting to another assignment.

The minority of agents with deep technical skills described the frustration of having to dumb down reports to superiors and needing to train collagues who are not technical savvy, we found in our reporting.

Plus, the F.B.I's macho culture has scorned digital skills. Division agents are nerds in the sea of jocks. The bureau has hired civilian computer scientists separately, but they are viewed as helpers, who typically command even less respect than Cyber Division agents.

The ''anywhere'' expectation is also misguided. Unlike agents on crimes such as bank robberies, cyberinvestigators don't usually need to be near a crime scene to collect evidence.

Many systemic aggravations cause computer experts to leave the F.B.I. It's an easy transition because their skills are both immediately transferable to the private sector and in high demand.

To sum, the point to note is that the H.T.C.U also specified that half its staff must be cyberexperts. Each one is paired with a traditional law enforcement officer, and they work cases as a team.

As John Fokker, who once served as digital coordinator of the H.T.C.U's ransomware team, told us, ''the old school with the new school made it work.''

The approach works for the Dutch. If it is willing to let go of the ''any job, anywhere'' mantra, it could work for the F.B.I and all the world's cybercrime Units, too.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Cybercrimes, Solutions and Best Practices, continues. The World Students Society thanks authors Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden.

With respectful dedication to the Cyber Law Enforcement Units the world over, and the Cyber Experts, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. 

See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society, lovingly called !WOW! - the exclusive ownership of every student in the world : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter - !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

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