Cybercrimes are becoming more commonplace and sophisticated every day, and they can cause serious damage to private citizens and businesses. National efforts are being executed to fight cybercrime, but some states are working on their own plans.
The Cybercrime Support Network (CSN) is a nonprofit corporation that is currently working on implementing a pilot program to train 911 and 211 front-line specialists to assign urgency to cybercrime calls. The public will also be trained on how to call 211 in the event of a cybercrime. CSN will work with federal, state and local law enforcement and the 211 system to add services to the existing 211 hotline infrastructure. AT&T has signed on as the project’s first private-sector sponsor.
The goal of the program is to:
- Build awareness
- Give voice and service cybercrime victims
- Connect victims to local, state and federal law enforcement, when required
- Identify community resources for recovery and crime victim compensation
- Improve education and restitution opens for victims
The Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has identified 38 cybercrime categories, and complaints to IC3 totaled $1.3 billion in losses by also 300,000 companies in 2016. This number represents an estimated 15 percent of the total cybercrime victims each year.
As these crimes become more serious, having a system for victims to report cybercrimes and potentially receive restitution will hopefully enable the public to feel more confident in their cyber activity. It could also help law enforcement stay on top of cyber criminals and identify how to better prevent future crimes.