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Cybercrime: Interview with Westchester's High Tech Crime Bureau
Chief of the High Tech Crimes Bureau, Westchester County District Attorney's Office

May, 2001

The High Technology Crimes Bureau consists of two Assistant District Attorneys and two investigators who deal with all forms of cybercrime in Westchester County, New York. Over the last few years, this office has been extensively involved with local schools in the area of computer crime. The list of cases the office has investigated and successfully prosecuted runs the gamut from Internet bomb threats to prosecuting pedophiles preying on students.

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Reilly: Ken, what are the areas you see as major concerns for schools?

Some students are passionate about computers and like to see if they can hack into their school's electronic resources. Many don't see this type of vandalism as a crime.

Asst. D.A. Citarella: There is a lack of control for students and faculty. What I mean by that is that many schools don't utilize user id's and passwords when faculty and students access the Internet. Even a manual log would be helpful. Having measures in place that identify who went where and when is useful in investigating crimes; but also serves a s a deterrent. Schools need to pay much more attention to network and web server security. Some students are passionate about computers and like to see if they can hack into their school's electronic resources. Many don't see this type of vandalism as a crime.

Reilly: How do you feel about students maintaining Web pages?

Asst. D.A. Citarella: It's problematic. I believe there are a lot of good reasons for kids to do this type of maintenance and it saves schools money but I'd think twice about the risk involved. The school really needs to trust the students because the potential for a serious security compromise really increases whenever students are involved.

Reilly: Do you have any advice on what to do after an incident is discovered?

Asst. D.A. Citarella: Well, the best advice is to lock up the CPU or make a copy of the directory. Cut off access to the machine so that evidence is not destroyed. It probably makes sense to have a policy in place that describes what to do and who is responsible for doing it, before anything happens in the school.

Reilly: What other practical advice do you have for schools?

Asst. D.A. Citarella: Develop an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for your staff as well as your students. Also, it helps in prosecuting computer-tampering cases if you have a warning, "Authorized Users Only" on your login page.

Reilly: What do you see looking out into the future?

Asst. D.A. Citarella: More problems. It is getting easier to find hacker's tools on the Internet. Schools will have to be more vigilant. We will probably see more firewalls used in the schools.

If you have further questions or wish to report an incident, please call the Westchester Office of High Tech Crimes at 914-995-3460.