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Cyber Crime Trend: The Unlawful Activities of the Dark Web

Cyber Crime Trend: The Unlawful Activities of the Dark Web

Portions of the internet invisible from standard search engines, known as the "Dark Web," are providing rapidly increasing user base access to many illegal activities online. Dark Web websites are publicly visible, yet hide the IP addresses of the servers that run them using anonymity software like Tor or I2P. These software programs encrypt internet traffic in multiple layers and bounce it across randomly selected computers around the world. This lets anyone using one of these programs access a site, but it can be difficult to locate its servers and users. 

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Don’t Fall for Phishing in 2015

You have probably never met a Nigerian prince. However, you might have received an email from one asking for help unlocking a fortune with the promise to pay you for your help. These so-called ‘Nigerian prince scams’ are a crude version of fraud that people can easily recognize. 

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Information Sharing is a Linchpin for Securing Special Events

Information Sharing is a Linchpin for Securing Special Events

After the tragic events of 9/11, there was overwhelming consensus that a coordinated effort against terrorism and other public safety threats was required between the nation’s entire law enforcement, emergency management, and intelligence apparatus. This includes the identified requirement to secure large-scale public events. These events present a potential target for terrorism and other crimes based on size, scope, and especially notoriety.

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Buyer Beware – The Crime of Counterfeit Goods

With the celebration of major sports events like Super Bowl XLIX, and the ensuing zeal of football fans to attend it, many fans are determined to own a piece of Super Bowl history. Unfortunately, unscrupulous vendors and criminal organizations that specialize in selling counterfeit merchandise, such as tickets and jerseys, will defraud some of these fans. Each year people throughout the United States unwittingly purchase “genuine” memorabilia only to learn that they have been defrauded hundreds, or in some instances, thousands of dollars, for a counterfeit product.

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Speed to Mission - Strategic Communications

Speed to Mission - Strategic Communications

National-level mission programs require strategic deployment of flexible, agile, and mobile support teams for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to support its employees and stakeholders. Major public events such as the Super Bowl and the Boston Marathon are complex events that need an intense focus on security and information sharing early in their planning phase.

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Cybersecurity: Don’t Forget the Management Fundamentals

Cybersecurity: Don’t Forget the Management Fundamentals

Advances in tooling, education, and job training provide organizations with the opportunity to advance their own cybersecurity programs. If not impenetrable, they are at least harder to breach and therefore a less attractive target than the next organization. It may be tempting to assume new tools solve problems and erase or lessen the need to understand management fundamentals as they apply to cybersecurity. Instead, it is vital to consider how effective cybersecurity depends on management fundamentals, especially on sound resource allocation.

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Upgrading Cyber-Physical Systems for National Security

Upgrading Cyber-Physical Systems for National Security

A defining feature of the United States in the 21st century is the level of interconnectivity between persons, corporations, and government agencies. From banking to social media, the vast majority of the American people are online. Using a smartphone it is possible to track weather forecasts collecting data from government-owned satellites, and to check the arrival and departure times of commercial flights using air traffic control networks. This is all possible due to our advanced critical infrastructure and the key systems that control them.

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Information Sharing – A Question of Trust?

Information Sharing – A Question of Trust?

In the years since the attacks of September 11, 2001, government information sharing has received significant public attention. Much lamented failures to ‘connect the dots’ among scattered pieces of data held by different government entities became a rallying point for government reform. The doctrine of “need to know” gave way to the mantra of “responsibility to share.”

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