CYBERCRIME TASK FORCE
DOJ Cybercrime Section | DOJ Computer/Telecommunication Coordinators (CTCs) | National Association of Attorney's General Points of Contact
Federal law prohibits the use of the Internet or other interstate facility to lure children for sexual exploitation; prohibits crossing a state line with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a child; and prohibits possession, production or distribution of child pornography. The United States Attorney's Office regularly prosecutes these cases under the Child Pornography Prevention Act and the Mann Act in order to punish people engaged in any aspect of child exploitation. Assistant United States Attorney Carrie Costantin coordinates these prosecutions. If you have any information concerning child luring or pornography, she may be reached at (314) 539-2200.
The United States Attorney's Office prosecutes computer hacking offenses under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1030 (fraud and related activity in connection with computers). Section 1030 prohibits intentional, unauthorized access into a protected computer which causes damage in excess of $5,000. Protected computers are broadly defined as any computer used in interstate or foreign commerce. Damage is any impairment to the integrity or availability of data, a program, a system or information. Sentences range up to twenty years, depending upon the victim's loss. Losses include any reasonable cost to respond to the intrusion, conduct damage assessments and restore data, programs and networks to their pre-intrusion condition, as well as any revenue lost or costs incurred as a result of any interruption of service.
Intellectual property or theft of information crimes are prosecuted under Title 18, United States Code, Section 2319 (criminal infringement of a copyright), Section 2320 (trafficking in counterfeit goods/trademark violations), and Section 1832 (theft of trade secrets). For the purposes of federal prosecutions, trade secrets are any financial, business, scientific, technical, economic or engineering information–including patterns, plans, formulas, designs, methods, techniques, processes, procedures, programs or codes–if the information has actual or potential economic value and if the owner has taken reasonable measures to keep the information secret.
Finally, the St. Louis United States Attorney's Office prosecutes many Internet fraud cases using traditional mail fraud and wire fraud statutes.
The Cybercrime Task Force of the Eastern District of Missouri consists of computer crime investigators, forensic examiners and prosecutors from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
The Computer Crimes Task Force meets periodically with the Cyber-Terrorism Committee of the Anti-Terrorism Task Force to discuss network and infrastructure security. A portion of these meetings are open to the public. During the public portion of the meetings, recent changes in law are discussed, along with recent developments and trends in network security. Finally, an expert speaker makes a brief presentation on a topic suggested by task force participants.
Anyone interested in attending these meetings may contact Patricia Rockers at (314) 539-2200 for more information.
If you have any information concerning computer hacking, theft of information or Internet fraud, or if you have any questions about the Computer Crimes Task Force and Anti-Terrorism Task Force joint meetings, please feel free to contact Assistant United States Attorneys John Bodenhausen or Carrie Costantin at 314-539-2200.
For detailed information regarding computer crime prosecutions and investigations, contact the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) of the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice at www.cybercrime.gov.
To report an internet fraud contact the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) at www.ic3.gov.
CONTACT INFORMATION
JOHN BODENHAUSEN
and
CARRIE COSTANTIN
Coordinators
Cybercrime Task Force
314-539-2200 (office)
314-539-2309 (fax)