Continuing the fight against cybercrime in California, state Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced Monday the creation of the California Cyber Crime Center, a new program by the California Department of Justice intended to fight digital crime and utilize new cybersecurity technologies across the state.
The initiative, known as C4, brings together the state's eCrime Unit, the Network Information Security Section (NISS), and the DOJ’s own cybersecurity experts and the Digital Evidence Unit.
(The eCrime Unit was established by Harris in 2011 to investigate and prosecute identity theft and technology-related crimes. The Digital Evidence Unit was also created in 2011, to extract and analyze information from items like cellphones; its creation made California one of the first states in the nation to develop such a unit.)
“As the world becomes increasingly digital and crime evolves, the tools we use to prevent, investigate and prosecute crime must keep pace. Criminals are operating online with alarming sophistication, committing identity theft, hacking, cyberexploitation and other crimes that involve technology, and law enforcement must stay one step ahead,” said Harris via a press release though the DOJ. “The California Cyber Crime Center brings legal, technical and forensic capabilities to law enforcement across the state, helping our partners combat crime and building on our commitment to bring innovation to government.”
C4 will also include a new unit — the Office of Digital Investigations (ODI), which will focus on technologies “like software and data forensics and website reconstruction,” according to the press release. “ODI provides law enforcement with the capability to restore the digital scene of a crime to aid investigators in uncovering crucial evidence.”
Additionally, C4 will also include a newly created Cyber Accelerator, a program that will bring together members of the various units involved with C4 to focus on research, development and collaboration. The first product developed in the Cyber Accelerator is a Cyber Response Vehicle (CRV), which is a re-purposed Mobile Command Vehicle, retrofitted into a mobile digital forensics laboratory. Harris stood beside the vehicle during a press conference in Fresno on Monday. “The CRV allows multiple staff to collect, acquire and process media, mobile devices, personal computers, servers and other sources of electronically stored information on-site during the course of an investigation.”
Harris said Monday that the CRV can go anywhere in the state to support local law enforcement during an investigation and can collect and process digital evidence contained in smartphones and computers in real time, on the scene. C4 also will focus on training local law enforcement on how to keep their data and networks secure, safe and resilient.
"Cybercrime is occurring; it's very real. We know that it presents one of the biggest threats to national security, and we know it presents one of the biggest threats to our personal security," Harris said.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said Monday the mobile laboratory and C4 will enable faster, more efficient processing of digital evidence and give local law enforcement agencies access to resources they wouldn't otherwise have.
Harris said Fresno will be a flagship location for the C4 program.
For more information, visit the DOJ’s C4 website at https://oag.ca.gov/c4
