Catching the Trapper at “Ransom Drops”
Baited by access to “intel?” In taking it you alerted the “big fish.” Gee, the Mastermind looks a lot like a “G-Man.”
FBI, be reminded that time in your bureaucratic space differs from that of a Federal Cyberspace Probe (FCP). Knowledge is power, but only if you know when and can actually use it. Open access is free but only if you control it.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) at one time was not armed. Edgar Hoover changed that. Once again, the agency nee-ds to rearm itself with new weapons to timely block attacks. A redesign of the FBI is required for cyber “manhunts” – Federal Cyberspace Probe (FCP).
Impetus for FBIs focus on “kidnaping” or “abduction” traces back to affluent names like Lindbergh and Hearst. International kidnappings for high price ransoms were ultimately paid by either the family and/or the employer.
Domestic incidents of celebrity abductions have become rare, turning the focus to what’s come to be known as “Parental Interference.” States law enforcement begins with a public announcement ultimately taking resources away from policing and actual crime prevention.
Family custodial issues conflated with those of serious criminal kidnappings. Recall the original intent of an “AMBER Alert” was coined after the 1996 U.S. Texas abduction and murder case?
In the journal, SAGE, June 1, 2008 research article, “Child Abduction, AMBER Alert, and Crime Control Theater,” Timothy Griffin and Monica K. Miller, posit that “AMBER Alert is arguably an example of what could be called crime control theater. It is a socially constructed “solution” to a socially constructed problem, enabling public officials to symbolically address an essentially intractable threat.”
Hoover, it is said, was weary of his “G-Men” working with other agencies, specifically the Central Intelligence Agency. In a visit to California at a presentation on terrorism, I spoke to Michael German, former FBI agent. I pointed to the so called “turf war” between departments and how this failure in collaboration was counterintuitive, for both national and foreign security.
German, at the time was working as a Fellow in the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, at the New York University School of Law. In his response, true to form, he pointed to the complexity of the issue. No longer being an agent in the bureau he was not privy to the current situation.
Crypto: Re-engineering the “Ransom Drops”
Key to tracking of ransom drops was the use of marked hard currency. In today’s world tracing digital currency in all its “crypto” forms is critical, from the Cloud to Cyberspace. Cyberattacks or hacking have become what I term “Employer Interference” amounting to “intractable threats.”
Did recent communication traps set by the FBI catch criminals or was it all simply crime control theater? Data, intelligence, and evidence appear meaningless in the spectrum of cyberspace. It seems the U.S. is not only late in the game but chasing shadows.
Crypto assets are increasing. Send and receive facilitates moving coins. FBI, sound familiar. Yes, “live drops.” And, a software for “programing money’ can be designed to be untraceable. Right, “dead drops.”
G-Men, in taking the bait, you triggered the “catch and release” button. That’s right, “one for all and all for one.”
Activists supporting the group Anonymous wear masks as they protest against the Indian Government’s increasingly restrictive regulation of the internet in Mumbai on June 9, 2012. Indian protesters responding to a call from global hacking movement Anonymous took to the streets on Saturday over what they considers growing government censorship of the Internet.The call for demonstrations follows a March 29 court order issued in the southern city of Chennai demanding 15 domestic Internet providers block access to file-sharing websites such as Pirate Bay. AFP PHOTO/Indranil MUKHERJEE (Photo credit should read INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/GettyImages)
Breaking Code Laws
Like our ‘real world’ the internet attempts to enforce its “code of law” or as Larry Lessig has termed “Code is Law.” In his book, “Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace,” Lessig “explores the ways in which code in both senses can be instruments for social control, leading to his dictum that ‘Code is law.’” But these are unregulated spaces.
Let’s face it – if the companies that brought us the PC and smartphone are unable to block cyberattacks, there is little the user can do. Users, where do think the chips and manufacturing come from? Of course, governments can scan the web, retrieve or block your files.
From code to cryptocurrency, digital “funny money” has great timing. Law enforcement may resort to crime control theater. If so, let’s call it “FUNNYMUNY Alert.” Of course, one can always blame Russia.
Funny how one does not hear of the International Space Station being hacked. Russians, Americans, Canadians, Japanese, Brits and Europeans seem to get along just fine in Space. Then again, the ISS seems an ideal place to hold data or someone hostage.
Ironically, as some people have faked their own kidnapping, the hacks or corporations have reported being hacked as the reason for rise in prices. Careful what you wish for as the lie becomes the truth 😉