Security News > 2020 > January > If only 3 in 100,000 cyber-crimes are prosecuted, why not train cops to bring these crooks to justice once and for all, suggests think-tank veep

So says Mieke Eoyang, long-time US government policy adviser and veep of the national security program at Washington DC think tank Third Way.

After citing figures from Uncle Sam that show only three in 1,000 cyber-crimes are actually prosecuted - the actual ratio could be closer to three in 100,000 as the FBI tends to underestimate the extent of cyber-crime, she explained - Eoyang said police and agents are either told not to pursue online fraudsters or not given the training and resources to do so.

"We continue to blame users for not avoiding clicking on every phishing link," said Eoyang, a former staff director for the US House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

One key problem, Eoyang argued, is that police officers, at the city to state level, lack the basic skills to pursue online crimes, and instead hand cases off to overworked and undermanned specialized cybercrime units.

One area where Eoyang doesn't see the need for the government to step up its efforts is busting encryption.

News URL

https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/30/cops_crime_failure/