Local author, detective team up on cyber crime

While many people can’t think about computers without turning red from frustration over boot up times or unexpected shutdowns, McKinney resident Chuck Easttom never gets tired of talking, using and writing about them. With 11 books on the subject to his name, the IT consultant and part-time teacher at Collin College has taking a co-author for his latest, ‘Computer Crime, Investigation, and the Law,’ in McKinney Police Detective Jeff Taylor.

“I really thought getting the input from an actual working police officer that does investigations on a day-to-day basis would make the book something that is beyond any other computer security book out there,” Easttom said. “So I talked with the publisher I was going to do the book with and they thought it was a fantastic idea, and then I talked with Detective Taylor and he was excited but a little concerned. He had never written before, but he was excited about it and he agreed to help out.”

The writing split into about 70 percent for Easttom and the remaining 30 percent for Taylor, who wrote certain chapters, such as one on the forensics process, and double checked his partners writing about investigative work. The goal was to create a comprehensive book which would be useful to a number of readers and professionals.

“The book is really meant to bridge some gaps there,” Easttom said. “If someone is a police officer who doesn’t have a technical background and needs to learn computer investigation, we wanted the book to appropriate for them.”

On the other hand, he said someone well-versed in the technical side, such as a network administrator, could use the book to learn the legal side. The book includes an in-depth discussion of computer crime investigation, a step-by-step guide to techniques cyber criminals use, and chapters geared toward teaching people to protect themselves from online predators and stalkers, among other subjects. In writing the book, the authors assumed that readers might not have much of a tech background, and Easttom said that he anticipates most readers will find chapters with brand-new information alongside others covering material they’re already familiar with.

“So yes, I would think anyone who uses a computer would find something of use in the book,” he said.

On the subject of protection from online predators, Easttom said that one of the things immediately discussed is parental monitoring of what children do online, where predators often first interact with their victims through social-networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace, striking up a friendship there and gradually escalating the process. While monitoring their children’s online interactions may seem controversial to some parents, Easttom explained that it can be effective.

“If a parent is aware of this at the beginning, before it’s gotten out of hand, they can put a stop to it,” he said. “But if they don’t find out about it until things have gone to a new level, then it’s a little late to stop it.”

Another way to stay safe online is to limit the amount of personal information given out, including such things as a person’s birthday, address and phone number. Also, internet users should look out for any number of online scams, including fake auctions that take money from consumers and give no item in return.

But the biggest criminal threat on the internet is identity theft.

Most identity thieves commit the crime in order to make purchases or get a credit card in a victim’s name.

“And you’re not going to know about it until you start getting bills for purchases you didn’t make,” Easttom said. “People say it takes an average of one to two years to clean up the mess after that, to get your credit straightened out and to stop the bill collectors who are coming after you for a bill that’s not yours.”

Some thieves aren’t interested in money, though, such as those that create a fake driver’s licenses in a person’s name and rack up tickets, which the real ID holder won’t find out about until their local police department draws up a warrant for unpaid tickets. Still, the biggest target is a person’s finances, and Easttom said ID theft is incredibly common. He said that odds are everyone knows someone who has been a victim, and not just individual hackers are the culprits as organized crime groups are creating ID theft rings.

To combat this exploitation, Easttom said laws have expanded in the past several years, and that there are now both federal and state statutes that apply to ID theft. It used to be that perpetrators couldn’t be prosecuted for stealing an identity unless they also used it to steal money, but now the act itself carries a penalty. And while that penalty is low, Easttom said that the typical thief steals so many IDs that they can rack up centuries of jail time and fines in the millions of dollars.

Law enforcement officials have a process of tracking down cyber criminals, and Easttom said that the FBI has been having success in the area, though he did point out the difficulty in catching those good at what they do.

“Fortunately, a lot of the computer criminals are not that good and they get caught,” he said. “But, for example, if I’m going to setup a phishing website and I have hacked into say your web server and, unbeknownst to you, set up a fraudulent website on your server and someone succumbs to that, if they track it down they’re going to track it down to your server and not to me.”

‘Computer Crime, Investigation, and the Law’ took eight months to write, and though it’s his 11th computer book, a count that includes college textbooks, Easttom still enjoys the subject matter. Good news since his latest book, though completed, will need revision in a maximum of five years.

“Because these things are happening and changing so fast,” Easttom said. “Literally as we were writing the book there were new stories and new statistics and new things happening and new types of crime coming up and new threats. So I can’t imagine we’d go even five years without having to revise the book.”

Those interested in hearing more from Easttom can visit his website at www.ChuckEasttom.com. He posts all his class notes there, including guidance on setting up home computer security, where anyone can download them for free.

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