Description
Never have so many children spent so many hours on the internet as they have the last 18 months!
Over the past recent years, we have seen a remarkable reduction in the number of “stereotypical” child abductions. Predators targeting children who are alone or perceived vulnerable whether at school bus stops, playgrounds, or just walking in their neighborhoods. AMBER Alerts, the omnipresence of security video surveillance throughout communities, cellular/smart telephone capabilities, and other technologies, coupled with aggressive law enforcement response are just a few of the reasons for the reduction. While this is encouraging news, unfortunately, we are finding that many offenders have simply changed tactics in the way they contact and lure children away from their homes. It even has a name – “Sextortion” or “online luring of children.” Offenders have simply moved from street corners right into the homes and bedrooms of children using social media and gaming chat rooms to contact and groom our kids for victimization. By every estimation, the problem is “exploding” here in the United States and globally. For instance, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children found that in the last three-quarters of just last year there were over 30,000 reports to the CyberTip line of online luring – on pace to exceed 40,000 instances. And, this is just what NCMEC sees – many believe the problem is far greater, even at epidemic levels, and law enforcement unfortunately is struggling to keep up. Today, the internet and chatrooms have become the biggest threat to our children’s safety.
Additionally, as the Internet of Things (IoT) expands, it means that evidence of these crimes may be located in different places and require a vast set of skills to properly identify, seize and examine the data. Most investigators are going to be able to identify the obvious items, such as computers and cell phones, but may miss items such as Routers, Cameras, smartwatches, and even items such as cloud backups, cell records, Google history, and Snapchat messages and memories. In this event, our two presenters will cover how to respond to Cyber Predator investigations in 2021. Specifically, this course will cover the following:
Part 1: Presented by Robert Lowery
Types of Crimes
Online Predator
Sexual Exploitation
Blackmail
Child Pornography
Who are the people involved
The Predator
The Victim
How to begin the investigation
Who to notify
Additional Resources
Part 2: Presented by Glenn K. Bard
Types of evidence
Devices
Records
Clouds
Devices – Proper seizing and what can be obtained from a good examination.
Phones
Computers
Others
Records – Proper warrant wording and analysis
Cellular Records
Social Media Records
Google Records
Clouds – Proper warrant wording and review of contents
Phone backups
Social media backup files
The Dark Web
Different ways Predators are using the Dark Web to try and hide
