Items In The News:
- FINGERPRINT TECHNOLOGY - Making Two Systems Work as One
- FBI, Slovenian and Spanish Police Arrests Mariposa Botnet Creator, Operators
- A MILESTONE IN POLICE TRAINING - Seventy-Five Years Ago
ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center
SOURCE: FBI
29July2010 12:17pmPDT
GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE:
FINGERPRINT TECHNOLOGY - Making Two Systems Work as One
Call it the tale of two automated fingerprint systems.
The FBI has managed the nation�s collection of fingerprints since 1924, but we went fully electronic in 1999 when we launched the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or IAFIS. This national repository of fingerprints and criminal histories enables law enforcement at every level to quickly match up criminal evidence with criminal identities.
On the other hand (so to speak), the Department of Homeland Security�s IDENT�the Automated Biometric Identification System that houses fingerprint records and limited biographic information�was created in 1994 to help U.S. border and immigration officials keep criminals and terrorists from crossing our borders.
Two different systems�with two different missions�for two different sets of users.
But in this post-9/11, globalized world, those charged with protecting the nation need to be on the same page�with appropriate access to each other�s information. So that�s why the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of State have worked hard in recent years to establish interoperability between these two fingerprint databases.
Phase one. In 2006, DHS and DOJ/FBI began a pilot project with a limited number of agencies, making technical enhancements to IAFIS and IDENT that allowed two-way sharing of information. The FBI and DHS exchanged electronic copies of fingerprint images of certain subsets of data from each system, including known or suspected terrorists, subjects with wanted notices, and visa refusals. Authorized users of each system were then able to access those records.
The result: law enforcement and border and immigration officials each gained near real-time access to information from both systems on non-U.S. persons they encounter�whether at a police booking station, a border crossing, or at a U.S. Embassy visa office abroad.
Phase two. In 2008, we began expanding the concept, implementing a technological fix that would support a direct search request from authorized users of the full IDENT and IAFIS systems through a single interface. Right now, more than 450 jurisdictions in 26 states are participating in phase two, with more being added all the time.
Eventually, our interoperability plan calls for every IDENT and IAFIS user�local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement and authorized non-criminal justice agencies across the country�to have this same ability.
Within the first and second phases, we�ve already seen some successes:
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Miami police recently arrested a man for battery and ran his prints through both systems. It turned out he was a Mexican native who had been removed from the U.S. twice for other crimes. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) received a notice about the search, and he was deported.
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Police in Roxbury, Massachusetts arrested a man on firearm and drug charges. An IDENT/IAFIS search identified him as a Jamaican citizen previously removed from the U.S. who was also a known member of a violent street gang and a suspect in three murders. ICE was notified and began proceedings to have him removed from this country.
In recognition of their innovative solutions to align our automated identification fingerprint systems, members of DHS� U.S.�VISIT team (U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program) and the FBI�s Criminal Justice Information Services Division team were recently honored with the ICE Assistant Secretary�s Protecting the Homeland award.
Congratulations to everyone involved�but the real winners are the American people, who are safer in their cities and neighborhoods.
[Image: Courtesy of FBI.gov]
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FBI, Slovenian and Spanish Police Arrests Mariposa Botnet Creator, Operators
The FBI, in partnership with the Slovenian Criminal Police and the Spanish Guardia Civil, announced today significant developments in a two-year investigation of the creator and operators of the Mariposa Botnet. A botnet is a network of remote-controlled compromised computers.
The Mariposa Botnet was built with a computer virus known as �Butterfly Bot� and was used to steal passwords for websites and financial institutions. It stole computer users� credit card and bank account information, launched denial of service attacks, and spread viruses. Industry experts estimated the Mariposa Botnet may have infected as many as 8 million to 12 million computers.
�In the last two years, the software used to create the Mariposa botnet was sold to hundreds of other criminals, making it one of the most notorious in the world,� said FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III. �These cyber intrusions, thefts, and frauds undermine the integrity of the Internet and the businesses that rely on it; they also threaten the privacy and pocketbooks of all who use the Internet.�
In February, the Spanish Guardia Civil arrested three suspected Mariposa Botnet operators: �Netkairo,� �Jonyloleante,� and �Ostiator,� aka Florencio Carro Ruiz, Jonathan Pazos Rivera, and Juan Jose Bellido Rios. These individuals are being prosecuted in Spain for computer crimes.
Last week, the Slovenian Criminal Police identified and arrested the Mariposa Botnet�s suspected creator, a 23-year-old Slovenian citizen known as �Iserdo.� The work of the Slovenian and Spanish authorities was integral to this investigation.
FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Gordon M. Snow said: �This case shows the value of strong partnerships among law enforcement agencies worldwide in the fight against cyber criminals. Cyber crime knows no boundaries, and without international collaboration, our efforts to dismantle these operations would be impossible. The FBI praises the work of our Slovenian and Spanish partners who worked closely with our agents in this case.�
In a statement, Slovenian Minister of the Interior Katarina Kresal and Director General Janko Gorsek, Slovenian Criminal Police, said: �We are glad to cooperate with the United States; the FBI�s assistance is invaluable and represents professional affirmation of our force. This case shows that cyber crime issues call for international police cooperation that shouldn�t be hindered by geographical borders. The FBI has demonstrated a high level of collaboration in which our countries were equal partners, which was crucial for the success of the investigation and reducing the threat on a global level. This partnership serves as a solid basis for future cooperation.�
Maj. Juan Salom, commander of the Guardia Civil�s Cyber Crime Division, noted: �The Mariposa case showed how the coordinated and joint actions of different international police forces, along with the efforts of the Internet security industry, have been able to face the global threat of cyber crime,� he said. �The cyber kingpins know that they are not invincible anymore because the global efforts of the FBI, Slovenian Criminal Police, and Spanish Guardia Civil have shown that it doesn�t matter where or how they try to hide, they will be located and prosecuted.�
From 2008 to 2010, the Slovenian citizen created �Butterfly Bot� and sold it to other criminals worldwide. In turn, these criminals developed networks of infected computers�botnets�and the Mariposa variety from Spain was the most notorious and largest. In addition to selling the Butterfly Bot program, the Slovenian citizen developed customized versions for certain customers and created and sold plug-ins (add-ons) to augment the botnet�s features and functionality.
This case is significant because it targeted not only the operators of the botnet but also the creator of the malicious software that was used to build and operate it. The success of this investigation was made possible because of the skill, professionalism, and commitment of the Slovenian Criminal Police�s Cyber Crime Division and the Spanish Guardia Civil�s Computer Crimes Group.
The FBI conducted this investigation with the assistance of the United States Attorney�s Office, District of Hawaii, and the Department of Justice�s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Office of International Affairs, and the Botnet Threat Focus Cell. The FBI also received invaluable assistance from the Mariposa Working Group.
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A MILESTONE IN POLICE TRAINING - Seventy-Five Years Ago
It�s hard to imagine now, but in the early part of the last century there was very little formal training for law enforcement officers around the country. In some smaller cities, police departments simply issued new officers a badge and gun and told them to get to work.
So when criminals started getting smarter, more organized, and better armed in the 1920s and early 1930s�as represented by such cunning characters as Al Capone, John Dillinger, and Alvin Karpis�law enforcement nationwide was hardly prepared to deal with them.
The FBI�which had launched its own formal training for special agents in the late 1920s�realized it could help. At a national crime conference in December 1934, Director J. Edgar Hoover joined with Attorney General Homer Cummings in announcing plans for a national school of instruction for law enforcement. That call was widely acclaimed, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police quickly endorsed the concept and lent its support.
The following June, Bureau executive Hugh Clegg traveled up and down the East Coast and as far west as Chicago, seeking out criminologists, law professors, and other experts to participate in the training program. Although the FBI intended to tap into experienced agents for its core set of instructors, Clegg succeeded in recruiting lecturers from Harvard, Yale, the City College of New York, Vanderbilt, Columbia, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, and the University of Cincinnati to talk on various topics. Also enlisted were senior state and local police and executives.
Plans were soon complete, and on Monday morning, July 29, 1935�75 years ago today�the FBI launched its first Police Training School. The attorney general called it �the most comprehensive and intensive training ever afforded local law enforcement officers in the United States.�
Within a few years, we had changed the name to the FBI National Academy. Today, more than 43,000 graduates later (including over 3,000 from beyond our borders), the National Academy is an institution widely respected in law enforcement circles around the world, evolving into what some have called �The West Point of Law Enforcement.� These students have carried their knowledge and experiences back to their cities and towns, sharing it with their colleagues and the people they serve, further multiplying the impact of the National Academy.
In honor of the anniversary, we thought you�d be interested in a few details on our first class of students�as well as on how the academy has evolved over the years. See the sidebars, links, and various pictures on this page for specifics. And visit our National Academy website for more information on current operations and read Director Mueller's speech on Tuesday at the National Academy Associates Annual Training Conference.
[Image: Hugh Clegg, courtesy of FBI.gov]
FBI National Academy
