US calls for international collaboration on transnational crime and cybercrimes

The strategy document released by the White House is mainly aimed at encouraging more international cooperation to target organized crime.

The focus of the cybercrime component is better information sharing and cooperation among nations to investigate the use of the internet and technology by organized criminals.

The strategy document says transnational organized crime (TOC) networks are increasingly involved in cybercrime, which costs consumers billions of dollars annually, threatens sensitive corporate and government computer networks, and under­mines worldwide confidence in the international financial system.

"Some estimates indicate that online frauds perpetrated by Central European cybercrime networks have defrauded US citizens or entities of approximately $1bn in a single year," the document says.

TOC networks are engaged in the theft of critical US intellectual property, the strategy document says, including through intrusions into corporate and proprietary computer networks. Theft of intellectual property ranges from movies, music and video games to imitations of popular and trusted brand names, to proprietary designs of high-tech devices and manufacturing processes.

The strategy document says technology enables crimes to take place faster, but points to a critical shortage of investigators with the knowledge and expertise to analyze ever-increasing amounts of potential digital evidence.

In the document, President Obama says technological innovation and globalization have proven to be an overwhelming force for good in the past 15 years.

"However, transnational criminal organizations have taken advantage of our increasingly interconnected world to expand their illicit enterprises," he says.

Obama calls on US partners and allies to join in building a new framework for international cooperation to protect all citizens from the violence, harm and exploitation wrought by transnational organized crime.

This story was first published by Computer Weekly

What’s hot on Infosecurity Magazine?