The U.S. Secret Service announced the creation of the Cyber Fraud Task Force on July 10 to combat cybercrimes related to the financial sector.
Cyber Fraud Task Force or CFTF is created by merging its Electronic Crimes Task Forces and Financial Crimes Task Forces into a single network.
New post: U.S. Secret Service Announces the Creation of Cyber Fraud Task Force https://t.co/EHnlxIfnPA — Digitpol (@digitpol_cyber) July 14, 2020
According to its official announcement, Secret Service had been planning over two years to create a unified task force to combat ransomware attacks, business email compromise scams, credit card online stealing, etc.
The CFTF appears in a context where illegal market of credit card stolen data through the dark web and banking details from companies are rising rapidly.
The Secret Service also showed concerns toward the role of cryptocurrencies behind the online illegal transactions, as these have become:
“one of the primary means by which criminals launder their illicit profits.”
Ameet Naik, security expert at PerimeterX, comments on the official launch of the CFTF:
“Financial crimes and cyber crimes are two sides of the same coin. Digital skimming and Magecart attacks fuel dark web marketplaces and surface in the real world as payment fraud. That hurts businesses and erodes confidence in the financial system. The combined FBI Cyber Fraud Task Force will enable better data sharing and strike at the root of the problem.”
CFTF aims to improve the coordination and dissemination of best practices for all its investigations of financially-motivated cybercrime.
The Secret Service also added that the country faces a “growing threat” of transnational cybercrime, particularly against the U.S. financial system.
Erich Kron, a security awareness advocate at KnowBe4 added:
“This consolidation is good news, as so many financial crimes these days have a cyber element and cybercrime has a traditional element, such as the use of money mules to withdraw and muddy the money trail. By consolidating, there is far less bureaucracy and red tape to deal with when crimes cross both sides of the spectrum. Given the sheer amount of money that the organizations within the U.S. are hemorrhaging every year due to financial and cybercrime, it is nice to see the government taking this seriously and making moves to address the issue.”
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Pixabay