Victim's rights: Cybercrime retaliation

How to react when you have been hit by a cyber attack.

Fear, uncertainty and doubt - or any combination of those feelings - usually let cybercriminals off the hook.

A January report from the U.S. Joint Council on Information Age Crime shows that 36% or less of organizations polled report computer-related crimes to law enforcement. Yet law enforcement officials and IT security experts agree that taking the proper steps after malicious activity will help secure breached networks, prevent future attacks - and even identify and punish criminals.

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Fear, uncertainty and doubt - or any combination of those feelings - usually let cybercriminals off the hook.

A January report from the U.S. Joint Council on Information Age Crime shows that 36% or less of organizations polled report computer-related crimes to law enforcement. Yet law enforcement officials and IT security experts agree that taking the proper steps after malicious activity will help secure breached networks, prevent future attacks - and even identify and punish criminals.

So, what should you do if you are the victim of cybercrime? Here are 10 key reactions.

Report

Experts urge IT managers to resist going into hiding and advise them to report the cybercrime incident to all or one of the following groups, depending on the circumstances of the crime.

1. Contact law enforcement agencies: The FBI, the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) each track, investigate and prosecute cybercrime, depending on the act. For example, the FBI and Secret Service investigate cases dealing with hacking, intellectual property theft, piracy and password trafficking, and the FTC deals with cases of Internet fraud and spam.

"Victims must report the crime as soon as they learn about it. The earlier they report it, the more likely we can solve it," says Gail Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Boston field office.

2. Reach out to industry organizations: Groups such as Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute's CERT Coordination Center, the Internet Fraud Complaint Center and the Anti-Phishing Working Group would like to be informed of cybercrimes and malicious computing activity such as viruses, worms and distributed denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.

"There are advantages when people are willing to even just report the activity, without seeking prosecution or publicity," says Marty Lindner, a senior member of the technical staff at U.S. CERT. "The experience can be pushed out to others so they know what to look for."

3. Inform other potential victims: Even if a company or an individual wants to keep quiet about an attack, it is wise - and in some cases required by law - to alert others at risk.

For example, the University of California at Berkeley recently revealed that a hacker attack might have exposed the personal data of more than a million state residents. Under the state's SB1386 anti-identity theft law, passed in 2003, state agencies and businesses maintaining computerized data are required to report any breach of security that could have compromised personal data such as Social Security or license numbers or name and addresses coupled with credit card information.

"It is a corporate responsibility to report corporate-level fraud," says Erik Laykin, director of IT investigations practice for Navigant Consulting.