AG HEALEY HOSTS SIXTH ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE TO PROVIDE LAW ENFORCEMENT WITH TOOLS TO DETECT, DEFEAT CYBER CRIME

AG HEALEY HOSTS SIXTH ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE TO PROVIDE LAW ENFORCEMENT WITH TOOLS TO DETECT, DEFEAT CYBER CRIME

More Than 650 Law Enforcement Officers, Prosecutors, and Investigators from Across the Nation Attended Three-day Event

BOSTON — This week, Attorney General Maura Healey hosted the sixth annual National Cyber Crime Conference, the largest multi-day conference of its kind to help equip law enforcement officials and prosecutors with the tools and skills to effectively detect and defeat cyber crime in the 21stcentury.

More than 650 law enforcement officers, prosecutors and investigators from across the nation and Canada attended the three-day conference. During her opening remarks to kick off the event on Monday, AG Healey stressed the importance of this annual conference due to the evolving nature of technology.

“As hackers and cyber criminals continue to take advantage of new advances in technology, law enforcement is tasked with keeping pace in this digitized world,” said AG Healey. “We must be prepared to take on the challenges and threats we face today, while anticipating the emerging ones we expect tomorrow. This conference helps provide the necessary skills and knowledge to law enforcement to make our communities safer.”

After AG Healey’s remarks, Robert S. Mueller, III, Former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, delivered the keynote address. He was sworn in as Director on September 4, 2001, just one week before 9/11 and served a 12-year term. Mueller discussed the transformation of the FBI in the wake of 9/11, counterterrorism efforts, and cyber threats in 2001 compared to the cyber threats we face today, including from Russia, North Korea and ISIS.

The conference also featured four notable lunchtime speakers over the three days, including Sy Ray, the founder of ZetX Corporation and Lead RF Engineer for 10-2 Technologies, who spoke about cellular geo-location mapping and analysis.

On Tuesday, Angelyn Bayless, Director of Cities Empowered Against Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) – Arizona, presented to attendees about sex trafficking awareness, prevention, education, research and policy.

Today, Michael Menz, Director for the Hewlett Packard Global Cyber Security Investigations and Forensics group, and Kipp Loving, formerly of the FBI’s Cyber Crime ICAC Task Force & Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force, presented tips, tricks, and free tools for law enforcement. 

           The conference was hosted by the AG’s Office in partnership with Microsoft, the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), SEARCH, and the National Attorneys General Training & Research Institute.

“As a perennial partner and training provider at the National Cyber Crime Conference, SEARCH recognizes the vital need for law enforcement to have access to resources and training when handling digital evidence or investigating crimes,” said Timothy M. Lott, Director of High-Tech Crime Training Services and Operations at SEARCH. “The NCCC provides law enforcement with skills and knowledge to combat one of the largest issues facing the criminal justice community today. SEARCH is honored to be part of the NCCC and looks forward to our participation next year and years beyond.”

“This conference has lived up to its reputation as the best cyber crime conference in the country with the most diverse training, breakout sessions, and speakers,” said Glen Gainer, President and CEO of the National White Collar Crime Center.

Exhibitors participating in the conference include AccessData, ADF Solutions, Belkasoft, Berla Corporation., Cellebrite, DME Forensics, Griffeye, IBM, iNPUT-ACE, Magnet Forensics, Microsoft, MSAB, Oxygen Forensics, the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI), NW3C, Paraben Corporation, PassMark Software, Salient Solutions, ScanWriter, SEARCH, Sumuri, LLC, SysTools, Teel Technologies, Vound, LLC, and ZETX.

“Cellebrite was pleased to participate in the 2017 National Cyber Crime Conference,” said Cellebrite CEO Jim Grady. “As a leader in digital forensics, the conference provided us with quality interactions in the community and allowed us to share insights on how examiners, investigators and prosecutors can leverage digital evidence. The conference exceeded our expectations and we look forward to next year.”

“NCCC is the best conference for any investigator interested in expanding their knowledge in the world of digital and mobile forensics,” said Mica Sadler, MSAB Director of Sales. “As a vendor we find it truly valuable to interact with investigators, prosecutors and analysts at this show.”

Attendees at this week’s conference represented 38 states and Canada. Law enforcement, prosecutors, and investigators attended from, among many others, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marshall Service, U.S. Probation Department, U.S. Coast Guard, Massachusetts State Police, Boston Police Department, and district attorney’s offices and police departments across the country.  

           The conference consisted of more than 160 breakout sessions of labs, lectures, and certification programs in which attendees were trained on a wide range of topics pertaining to digital forensic analysis, including mobile device forensics, decryption, and the newest analytic software. Attendees learned how to identify and analyze evidence from basic mobile devices, iPhones and other Apple products, GPS devices, DVRs, gaming consoles, social media applications, and from the “cloud.”

            Other seminars addressed social engineering, social media networks, gaming, terrorism, child sex trafficking, and electronic currency. Seminars to improve the prosecution of cyber crimes were also provided, as well as tracks dedicated specifically to human trafficking, child exploitation, and terrorism. Nearly 90 speakers conducted 150 sessions on various topics. 

The AG’s Office has long made the prevention and prosecution of cyber crime a priority. The Office has a state-of-the-art Digital Evidence Lab in Boston, which has statewide capacity to deal with cyber crime and more efficiently process digital evidence that is present in virtually every investigation. Since 2008, the AG’s Office has provided cyber training for more than 17,000 state and local law enforcement personnel from across the Commonwealth and the nation. 

A list of participating agencies and police departments in this year’s conference include:

Alabama AG’s Office

Amherst Police Department

Anoka County Sheriff's Office

Arizona Department of Public Safety

Arlington Police Department

Ashland Police Department

Attleboro Police Department

Arizona AG’s Office

Bangor Police Department

Barnstable Police Department

Beaverton Police Department

Bergen County Prosecutor's Office

Berkeley County Sheriff's Office

Berkshire District Attorney's Office

Boston Police Department

Bourne Police Department

Braintree Police Department

Bridgeport Police Department

Bristol County District Attorney’s Office

Bristol County District Attorney’s Office / MSP

Brookline Police Department

Buffalo Police Department

Burlington Police Department

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office

Cambridge Police Department

Camden County Prosecutor's Office

Canby Police Department

Canton Police Department

Cape & Islands State Police Detective Unit

Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office

Chelsea Police Department

Chicago Police Department

Chicopee Police Department

Chula Vista Police Department / ICAC

Colorado AG’s Office

Concord Police Department

Council Bluffs Police Department

Cranston Police Department

DEA

Dedham Police Department

Defense Criminal Investigative Service

Delaware Department of Justice

Dennis Police Department

Derry Police Department

DHS

DHS / ICAC

Duxbury Police Department

Easthampton Police Department

Erving Police Department

Essex County District Attorney's Office

Everett Police Department

Executive Office of Public Safety and Security

Falmouth Police Department

FBI

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

First Judicial Circuit of Florida

Florida AG’s Office

FL Fish and Wildlife Conservation

Florida Department of Law Enforcement

Fremont Police Department

Gallatin County Sheriff

Grafton County Attorney's Office

Greenwich Police Department

Gwinnett County Police

Hanson Police Department

Harwich Police Department

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Holliston Police Department

Hudson, NH Police Department

Indiana State Police

Indianapolis Police Department

International Association of Computer Investigation

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office

Kings County District Attorney

LA County District Attorney's Office

Lebanon Police Department

Lincoln Police Department

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

MA Env. Police / AGO

Maine AGO

Maine Police Department

Manchester, CT Police Department

Mansfield Police Department

Maricopa County Attorney's Office

Marlborough Police Department

Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center (MD Fusion Center)

Massport Police Department

Maynard Police Department

Memphis, TN Police Department

Merrimack County Attorney's Office

Merrimack Police Department

Middlesex District Attorney's Office

Middlesex Sheriff’s Office

Midlothian, VA Police Department

Montreal Police Department

MSP

MSP / AGO

MSP / Plymouth DAO

MSPCCU

Nashua, NH Police Department

Nassau County District Attorney’s Office

Nassau County Police Department

Natick Police Department

National Computer Forensics Institute

NC State Bureau of Investigation

NCIS /ICAC

NE Coalition to End Sexual & Domestic Violence

Needham Police Department

NESPIN

Nevada Gaming Control Board

New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice

New York County DA's Office

Newport, RI Police Department

NH State Police

NJ AGO

NJ Division of Criminal Justice

NJ State Police

Norfolk District Attorney’s Office

Norfolk District Attorney's Office / MSP

North Attleboro Police Department

North Berwick Police Department

Northampton Police Department

Northwestern District Attorney's Office

Norwood Police Department

NY State Police

NYPD

NYS Department of Law

OCDA

Office of the District Attorney, Middle District

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation

Oracle

Oregon Department of Justice

Peabody Police Department

Penobscot County Sheriff's Office

Pepperell Police Department

Plymouth County Sheriff's Dept.

Plymouth Police Department

Portland, ME Police Department

Portland Police Bureau

Portsmouth, NH Police Department

Queens District Attorney

Quincy Police Department

Revere Police Department

RI State Police

Roxbury Division of Boston Municipal Court

San Diego County District Attorney's Office

SC Attorney General's Office

SD Attorney General Consumer Protection

SD ICAC

Seattle PD

Seekonk Police Department

Somerville Police Department

Springfield Police Department

State Attorney's Office, 6th Judicial Circuit

Stow Police Department

Suffolk County District Attorney's Office

Suffolk County Police Department

Sûreté du Québec

Taunton Police Department

Templeton Police Department

Tigard Police Department

Tippecanoe County Prosecutor's Office

Toms River Police Department

Toronto Police Department

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Border Patrol

U.S. Department of Education OIG

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General

United States Postal Inspection Service

US Fish and Wildlife Service PRU

US Marshals Service

US Probation

US Secret Service

USCG

Utica College

Walpole Police Department

Waltham Police Department

Warwick Police Department

Washington State Patrol

Waterbury Police Department

Waterloo Police Department

Wayne County Prosecutor's Office

Wellesley Police Department

Westbrook Police Department

Westchester County District Attorney

Weymouth Police Department

Wilbraham Police Department

Wilmington Police Department

Wisconsin Department of Justice

Worcester Police Department

York County District Attorney's Office

MAYOR WALSH, CITY LEADERS LAUNCH NEW NEIGHBORHOOD TRAUMA TEAMS

MAYOR WALSH, CITY LEADERS LAUNCH NEW NEIGHBORHOOD TRAUMA TEAMS

Neighborhood Trauma Teams (NTT) in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roxbury and East Boston will be managed by BPHC and co-led by teams consisting of a community health center and a community partner

BOSTON - Tuesday, April 25, 2017 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh joined public health officials Tuesday to launch new neighborhood-based trauma response and recovery teams that will offer immediate support to Boston residents and ongoing access to evidence-based trauma treatment. Overseen by the Boston Public Health Commission, the NTTs will support residents' and the community's ability to heal following a traumatic event. Specifically, the NTTs will offer individual and family crisis response services, short-term case management, coping groups and ongoing trauma recovery services. "With the new Neighborhood Trauma Teams, in the aftermath of violence, community health centers, hospitals and community groups will now be able to coordinate immediate response and sustained recovery for all those affected," said Mayor Walsh. "Together, we'll break the cycle of violence and help support those who are healing." This model was designed with input from over 350 community residents and providers through 14 neighborhood listening sessions hosted by BPHC, during which BPHC staff heard what residents and communities need most following a violent or traumatic event. "As a result of these listening sessions, we designed a citywide comprehensive strategy to meet the needs of residents following a traumatic event," said Chief of Health and Human Services Felix Arroyo. "Funds will support the Neighborhood Trauma Teams and a mobile vendor that is able to serve residents across the city, regardless of where they are or where the incident happened." "Over the past five years, BPHC has trained over 120 clinicians across the city in evidence-based trauma treatment and provided trauma awareness training to over 2,500 youth workers working in community-based organizations," said BPHC Executive Director Monica Valdes Lupi, JD, MPH. "The Neighborhood Trauma Teams will build on existing efforts and enhance response and recovery services for residents impacted by violence and trauma, creating a coordinated system of care in the City to address the needs of every resident, and identify and mitigate the impact of trauma on Boston families." "As trusted providers located right in our neighborhoods, health centers are well-positioned to provide critically needed trauma recovery services and to work with community partners to improve the comprehensive response to violence in our City, said James W. Hunt, Jr., president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. "The impacts of trauma are far reaching and this funding increases our centers' ability to offer skilled and compassionate care to those who suffer its effects." The NTTs are supported through a combination of City funding and grants from Boston Children's Hospital and Partners HealthCare System. The Justice Resource Institute's SMART Team will provide a 24-hour hotline for residents seeking support and citywide trauma response services for neighborhoods where a funded team is not based. This mobile team will also support the funded teams with backup care as needed. The teams were selected through a competitive RFP process and include: Dorchester: Bowdoin Street Health Center and Greater Four Corners Action Coalition Jamaica Plain: Brigham & Women's Hospital, Brookside Community Health Center Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center and Jamaica Plain Coalition: Tree of Life / Árbol de Vida Roxbury: Whittier Street Health Center and Madison Park Development Corp. East Boston: East Boston Neighborhood Health Center and North Suffolk Mental Health Association. Mattapan: Mattapan Community Health Center The NTTs will conduct community outreach and engagement to ensure residents know how to access services, and will host community meetings to share safety information and provide safe spaces for groups to come together for healing.

Baker-Polito Administration Proposes Modernizing the Laws that Govern Explicit Images

Baker-Polito Administration Proposes Modernizing the Laws that Govern Explicit Images

Legislation will protect children, provide more tools for District Attorneys, and update state law  

BOSTON – Today, the Baker-Polito Administration filed legislation modernizing the laws governing the distribution of sexually explicit images and empowering District Attorneys with additional tools to protect children. Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito announced the filing of An Act Relative to the Harmful Distribution of Sexually Explicit Visual Material alongside District Attorneys, Police Chiefs, members of District Attorney Conley’s Youth Advisory Council, local legislators, and other key stakeholders from across the Commonwealth at Boston Latin Academy in Dorchester.

“As parents, Lieutenant Governor Polito and I are pleased to propose legislation to better protect the Commonwealth’s children and will seek to educate them on the dangers associated with sharing explicit images,” said Governor Baker. “We look forward to working with the Legislature to pass this bill in a timely fashion, so that Massachusetts can join several other states in recognizing the need to update our laws consistent with modern technology to best protect our most vulnerable.” 

“From the flexibility District Attorneys will now possess for educating minors, to the updates school districts will make to their cyber-bullying policies, this proposed legislation makes Massachusetts a better and safer state,” said Lt. Governor Polito, Chair of the Governor’s Council to Address Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. “We look forward to working with our colleagues in the Legislature, District Attorneys, and the Governor’s Council to Address Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence to update state law concerning sexual explicit images.”

Under the legislation filed today, the first step in an explicit images case involving minors will be to enroll in an educational diversion program rather than go through the juvenile justice process and potentially be committed to the Department of Youth Services. While District Attorneys and the Attorney General will still have the right to bypass educational diversion programs in certain instances, the focus will now be on educational diversion rather than legal punishment.

“This is a very serious issue that causes emotional distress, humiliation, and has the potential to destroy people’s lives,” said Dan Bennett, Secretary of Public Safety and Security. “Through the collaborative efforts of the Lt. Governor and members of the SADV council, the Administration has crafted a bill that would create new pathways for protecting the Commonwealth’s children and offer sensible alternatives to involvement in the juvenile justice system.”

Massachusetts law as currently written, calls for minors who engage in peer to peer distribution of sexually explicit visual material to be subject to prosecution for the distribution or possession of child pornography.  This legislation seeks to update the law consistent with our lives and 21st Century technology. Should a case proceed to the juvenile justice system, this bill affords District Attorneys the discretion to decide whether a minor should be charged with a misdemeanor rather than a felony. The flexibility provided under this law will help ensure minors that do not belong in the juvenile justice system do not wind up there.

“All too often, technology outpaces the law’s ability to protect individuals and address harmful behavior.  This is a smart, balanced bill that creates more appropriate and measured options ,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley. “Right now, prosecutors reviewing juvenile sexting cases usually find themselves with the poor choice of pursuing either extremely serious charges or no charges at all.  Victims of surreptitious recordings and revenge porn could find the evidence in their cases made part of the public record.  This legislation provides meaningful, proportionate, and age-appropriate responses to emerging offenses, including an educational diversion option for most juveniles. It also improves confidentiality assurances for victims and maintains constitutional protections for free speech.  I want to thank Governor Baker and his team for working so closely with us to develop this bill and help bring Massachusetts law into the 21st century.”  

"This legislation addresses juvenile sexting in a smart and progressive way," said Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan

The legislation filed by the Baker-Polito Administration today will also require schools to provide age-appropriate education on the risks and harmful effects of the creation, possession, and distribution of sexually explicit visual depictions of minors as they relate to cyber-bullying.  Schools will be given the autonomy to use their existing cyber-bullying policies as a framework to incorporate education for their students on the harmful effects of distributing explicit images and any bullying associated with it.

  

"I am honored to join the Governor and Lieutenant Governor on this legislation which will protect kids from the harmful effects from transmission of explicit images," said Representative Jeffrey N. Roy (D-Franklin). "Earlier in the session, I filed similar legislation which provides additional tools for law enforcement along with educational programming that brings a coordinated effort and holistic approach to address an increasingly prevalent behavior among teens. I look forward to partnering with the Lieutenant Governor in the effort to get both bills enacted in this session."

This proposal also seeks to close a loophole under current law by creating penalties for adults who distribute a sexually explicit image for purposes of revenge or embarrassment. While current law addresses non-consensual recording of an unsuspecting person, it does not address instances where someone distributes an image without consent regardless of whether the initial image may have been taken with consent.  This legislation closes the gap in our law by creating a new felony offense and empowering judges in criminal proceedings to ensure an explicit image in question is permanently destroyed.

If passed, Massachusetts will join states from over half the country that have enacted similar legislation to protect their citizens.